


Not Your Boyfriend

by The_Degu



Series: The Not Yours Universe [2]
Category: Overwatch (Video Game)
Genre: Addiction, Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Human, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Bff fareeha, Drug Use, Genji Shimada is a Little Shit, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Major Character Injury, Slow Burn, alternate universe no omnics, ana is gabe's conscience, hanzo has anxiety problems, soft boi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-06
Updated: 2017-09-06
Packaged: 2018-11-28 09:10:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 14
Words: 27,035
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11414748
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/The_Degu/pseuds/The_Degu
Summary: Hanzo is a foreign exchange student to America. he wasn't planning on making any friends during his vacation from his parents, let alone lose his brother, meet a friendly cowboy, have several mental breakdowns and regret every life discussion he has made in his life up until this point.





	1. First impressions

It was the first day of class, Hanzo and his brother were staying in the U.S. for the year In a foreign exchange program. Hanzo had mixed feelings about the whole thing. He needed to get out of the house, but he didn’t want it like this. The last words he said to his father were nothing nice and Hanzo didn’t even text him when they landed.

The family that the brothers stayed with were nice enough. It was just a husband and wife, and the two didn’t have any kids of their own. Athena, the woman of the family, and was a juvenile psychiatrist that specialized in abuse cases. Her husband, a gorilla of a man, was a science teacher at the school that the brothers were going to attend, he just went by prof. Winston.  The two were more than gracious to have the brothers in their home, and seemed genuinely happy to have them. Hanzo found out early that the two couldn’t have children of their own, and with their full-time jobs they didn’t want to foster. So, they decided that the best way was to take in exchange students every year.

Hanzo and Genji moved in four days before school started. In order to get over their jetlag and make themselves at home at their new home. They had separate room that were connected by a small shared bathroom.  Genji was surprised that they got separate rooms, saying that one of his friends had to sleep on the floor when they went to America. But Hanzo on the other hand was less then pleased with the living condition; it wasn’t that he expected to have servants here. But he did expect his own bathroom, and the thought of sharing one with his brother made his stomach turn.  It was quite the change to say the least.

The day before school started, Hanzo wanted to go back home more than ever. His anxiety was all consuming and the lack of anything to do just made it worse. He ended up throwing up the little amount of breakfast he could stomach, and locked himself in the bathroom the rest of the day.  When he finally unlocked the door, and Genji was standing outside, holding a cup of water and an antacid. The two didn’t get along that well, but they respected echoer and even if they would never say it out loud; they loved each other. They fought almost constantly back in Japan but hadn’t had a single squabble since landing in America.

“ _do you want me to get Athena,”_ Genji asked, talking almost too quickly for Hanzo to understand “ _I mean this is kind of part of her job, and he said if anything like this were to happen we can talk to her”_

 _“no… they have been kind to us,”_ Hanzo explains “ _I don’t want to take advantage of her profession, just because I cannot keep my breakfast down.  Especially since I am the one staying in her house”_

Genji shrugs and hands the pill and water to Hanzo when the older asks “ _did you tell them?”_

Genji laughs a little and shakes his head “ _no, but they probably heard you. This bathroom is right over the kitchen”_

The thought of someone hearing his violent sickness besides Genji makes his stomach turn again. Not quite enough to throw up the little water he had downed, but it did make him slightly gag. The two had been nothing but kind, asking questions about Japan and about their lives back at home. Genji gladly talked about his friends and his history of less than moral actions. Hanzo half expected to be kicked out of the house when Genji brought up his history of throwing house parties when no one was home. Athena just laughed at the stories and Winston listened intently but said nothing until Genji was done.

They had ‘family dinner’ every night since the brothers had moved in. which was strange to say the least, Hanzo was used to having dinner in his study by himself; with his father out on business, Genji out partying, and his mother keeping company in the dining room.

And today was no different. It was actually the reason Hanzo left his self-infected imprisonment was that he heard that dinner was ready. The two boys headed down and sat at their places at the dinner table. Winston was already there looking over some documents on a tablet while Athena finished laying out dinner. It was BBQ from a nearby restaurant, Genji smiled from ear to ear because the night before Winston had asked what the two wanted to do while in the states, and Genji said that he wanted to have “real American barbecue” at least once. Athena had obviously heard the conversation.

The meal was excellent consisting of pork ribs, brisket, smoked sausage, and pulled pork. As well as half a dozen traditional southern sides. Hanzo was somewhat surprised that Athena was able to get such good barbecue this far north. She explained that even though the southern states are known for their smoked meats, Ohio was close enough to the south that they could get true southern barbecue up here.

Besides a discussion about what specific states’ best barbecue offerings were, dinner was relatively quiet. Even though half an hour earlier Hanzo was dry heaving into the upstairs toilet, and still had the taste of sick in his mouth; the smell of the smoked meats and other food on the table made him all but forget his anxious stomach.

 After everyone had their fill Hanzo and Genji helped clean up the mess and the massive amount of leftovers. Hanzo was putting the dish of colored greens in the fridge when a hand landed on his shoulder making him jump out of his skin.

Hanzo turned around in an instant, ready for a fight, but it was just Athena. she smiled sheepishly and adjusted her glasses.

“are you alright Shimada-san,” Athena asks, “Winston said that you were sick earlier”

“I am fine” Hanzo explains trying not to make this conversation longer then it has to be.

“Alright, I'm here if you need anyone to talk to,” Athena says earnestly “it’s my job to listen”

Hanzo shrugs Athena’s hand off of his shoulder and gives the best smile that he can muster up and reassures her that he is alright.

* * *

 

The next day rolls around and Hanzo was unable to get much sleep that night, but by the looks of it, neither was Genji. Hanzo couldn’t help but laugh at the state of this brother when he saw him run down the stairs.  His usually perfect eyeliner was smudged and he was dressed in an anime t-shirt and neon shorts that clashed horribly. To anyone else the way Genji usually dressed would be odd to say the least, but today it was even stranger.

“ _you should probably_ _change brother”_ Hanzo holds back a snort “ _you look ridicules even for you”_

Genji looks down at his attire and grumbles. He stands there for a moment then finally decides that his brother is right and runs back upstairs to change. Hanzo himself is dressed plainly wearing slacks and a somewhat nice shirt along with his hair up in his trademark scarf.

 By the time Genji comes down, it is time to leave. He is still wearing the anime tee but instead of the neon shorts he is wearing a pair of skinny jeans. The house is close enough to the school that they can walk to it on nice days, and today was. The sun was shining and it felt much too warm for school to be starting, but nonetheless, the two made their way to the high school.

By the time that the brothers got to the school other kids were starting to filter in. It was a little bit early for classes to start, but the brothers had to go to the principal’s office. They tried their best not to get lost on the way.

Eventually, they found their way to the office and sat in the watering area while the secretary flicks through paperwork. The PA system crackles to life and a smooth voice floods the school.

“would Jesse Reyes and Lena Oxton report to the principal’s office please.” The short and simple announcement made Hanzo’s mind race. Were people already getting into trouble half an hour before the first class even starts?  He couldn’t help but let out a nervous chuckle at the thought. American schools would definitely be living up to their reputation if there was.

Hanzo was cut off from his thoughts when the door to the office opens. The person standing in the doorway was intimidating to say the least. She was wearing heels that could kill someone, and her bitchy resting face challenged Hanzo’s own.  She looked to be of native American decent but only just, she had her orange hair tied up into almost painfully looking tight bun at the back of her head.

“Shimadas” she states flatly expression unchanging “come in, please.”

both of the brothers shot up as soon as he said their name, immediately knowing what type of person she was and not to mess around with her.  The office was sparkly decorated, the only things adorning the walls were plaques and certificates, and the only things in the bookshelves were tombs of knowledge and books for record keeping. The only thing that actually seemed personal was a photo on her desk of this woman shaking hands with the president of the United States, along with a drinking bird sitting on the other side of the desk.

“so, Shimadas” she reached out her hand to shake Hanzo’s own “I am principal Petras. But you probably already know that. I have little time to dawdle on formalities so let's get down to business”

she gestures to the seats by her desk. She walks to her own and sits down “now I understand that you have had private schooling all of your life, is that correct?”

“yes, ma’am” Hanzo states, his heart is in his throat, this situation is hitting a little too close to home. She smiles at Hanzo’s formality and she continues “this is a public school, and even though we're not in a bad area, it will not be what you are used to. I also did some digging into your school backgrounds, I wanted to make sure that my students are safe, and found that Genji should not have of been able to receive the ability to be an exchange student. Is this correct?”

Hanzo opens his mouth like a fish, how did she know that? He catches Genji out of the corner of his eye he looks just as stunned as he is. Petras looks at the boys and when she figures that they won’t answer she continues “now I don’t have the authority to stop you from finishing your time here beyond expelling you for bad behavior, but I did just want to let you know that your daddy won’t be here to change your grades for you. Do you understand Shimadas?”

“yes ma’am!” Genji and Hanzo almost shout in unison

“good now, your tour guides are here to bring you to your classes” Petras states plainly while getting up. The boys follow without another word.

Outside of the hellscape that was the principal’s office, two people stand. One of them is a lanky girl with a pixy cut and the other one is a… cowboy? he looks the same age as Hanzo but that is where the similarities end. The boy is very tall and lanky the dusting of facial hair on his chin and lip along with a thick main of hair under what looks like a cowboy hat. Hanzo sneers at him, hoping to any god that might be listening that he would go with the girl.

“Hanzo” Petras makes him jump to attention “this is Jesse McCree Reyes, he shares most of your classes with you and will be taking you to them.”

Hanzo’s heart sinks, of course he is put with the strange boy. He hears Petras explaining something to the whole group but can’t get himself to listen to it. Instead, he finds himself staring at his tour guide. Along with the ridiculous hat he is wearing flannel of all things, along with ripped blue jeans, and boots… really? Does he just have a fetish or something?

“yer Hanzo right?” Jesse asks snapping Hanzo out of his stupor

“yes, I am, and please call me Shimada” Hanzo snaps back. Jesse just smiles and nods, it is strange how to Hanzo how someone could be so relaxed around that principle but apparently, someone can be.

“alright Shimada, right this way” Jesse leads Hanzo out of the office and Hanzo feels like he can breathe again.

“Petras sure is a bitch,” Jesse says as they walk out of earshot “don’ worry she’s all bark and no bite”

Hanzo shakes his head trying to forget the threat of sending Genji back to Japan. The thought of being so far from home without his little brother is one thing but the thought of Genji being home without him to quell mother’s anger is downright awful.

Hanzo looks ahead at Genji who is obviously flirting with the girl that is his tour guide and Hanzo can’t help but chuckle and say, “I feel bad for her.”

Jesse raises an eyebrow “and why’s that”

“she will have to deal with my brother’s advances all day”

“Lana can handle herself, and to put it lightly, he's going to be disappointed” Jesse chuckles

“boyfriend?” Hanzo asks, he can almost see the girl hanging off of a football player’s arm now.

“naw, she has a girlfriend” Jesse states plainly. Hanzo only responds with a slight ‘oh’.

“the school seems pretty empty” Hanzo can’t help but think out loud.

“it fair week” Jesse explains “half o’ the school is goanna be gone ‘till next week, then the fun begins”

Hanzo can’t help but dread the thought of Jesse’s idea of ‘fun’, and makes a point to avoid talking to him as much as possible during the day. the two make it to class on time and Hanzo can’t help listening to the lecture in front of him. Instead, he lets his mind wander ( _this is going to be a long year)_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> if you are wondering what Petras looks like she is basically a gerudo form LOZ


	2. secrets

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hanzo is offered to come along with the group to have some fun, but when that falls through, and everyone refuses to tell him what is going on, he finds out that he has to do some digging himself

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> words within quotes that are italicized are the shimada brothers speaking Japanese.

It was another beautiful day out and it was also another day at school. Hanzo was in the hall taking out his chemistry book. Chemistry was one of the few classes that he didn’t share with Jesse, Who took biology instead. Hanzo did _not_ like chemistry, but at least it gave him relief from the incessant ye-haws, darlin’s, and other southern words and phrases. _How can someone who speaks English all of their lives, not do it well?_ Of course, Jesse’s southern accent was only slightly worse than the Midwest accents that permeated the halls.

            “hay Hanzo” ( _speak of the devil),_ Hanzo felt Jesse’s presence behind him.

 _“_ Jesse please call me Shimada,” Hanzo says coldly over his shoulder, not bothering to turn around.

            “yea sorry, didn’t mean nothin’ by it” Jesse apologizes. Hanzo hoped that that maybe for once Jesse would take the hint that he didn’t want to talk, but of course, he wouldn’t be so lucky. Jesse continued “me and a couple of friends were planning on going for a trail ride this weekend, Genji said that you might want to come also. We’re going to Fareeha's place her family owns some acreage and a few horses ta’ boot.”

            the thought of going riding made Hanzo’s heart flutter. When was the last time he did such a thing? Genji was going as well, so what was the worst that could happen? Hanzo shook his head when he started thinking of the worst thing that could happen. Then swiftly turned around and peered at Jesse who had the dopiest smile on the across his face.

            “I will think on it” is all that Hanzo says before pushing past Jesse and headed to his next class.

* * *

 

            “ _were you aware of this trail ride at Fareeha's home_ ,” Hanzo asked Genji who was currently sprawled across Hanzo’s bed playing on his pink Nintendo DS. When the words came out of Hanzo’s mouth he immediately regretted it, because of the horrifying grin that spread across Genji’s face.

            “ _He asked you!”_ Genji shot up from his previous position on the bed to now sitting next to Hanzo.

            “ _yes, well, he asked me earlier today if I would like to come along_ ” Hanzo recoiled from his brother

            “ _did you say yes, did you say no... wait, no, you said_ ‘let me think on it’” with the last words Genji gave his best Hanzo impression by sticking out his chest and pouting as hard as he could. Hanzo responded by pushing Genji off of the side of the bed.

It was strange how little time had passed while being away from Japan, but Hanzo and Genji were acting like brothers again; not like strangers that lived in the same house. They bickered more, but that was only because they spent more time together in the past few weeks than the past three years combined. It was nice having someone to lean on even if it was Genji. Genji was still a livewire but seemed to be taking school seriously, apparently, the threat of being sent home was enough to make him not play hooky every day, but he was still Genji.

“ _that is none of your business,” Hanzo says “I simply wanted to know if he was not simply asking me to then turn me down later”_

Genji scoffs “ _you give him too little credit brother, he’s quite the nice guy. If you gave him the time of day you would realize that”_

Hanzo glared at Genji who wasn’t making any moves to get up off his current spot on the ground. “ _I simply do not trust someone like him, he is...”_

 _“Cute? Kind? Cowboyish? Sexy?”_ Genji mocked. With the last word Hanzo all but lost it and jumped on top of Genji and started hiking up a logy.

“no! No! Hanzo I'm sorry” Genji started laughing hysterically and trying desperately to squirm out of his brother’s grasp. Then there was a knock at the door.

            Both boys sprang up like lighting Genji still giggling furiously and Hanzo had to wipe off his chin.

            “come in” Genji cheered.

            Winston opened the door and eyed the two from behind his glasses. “Athena says dinner is ready”

            “alright, we’ll be down in a moment,” Hanzo says while still trying to compose himself somewhat. Once Winston was out if sight Hanzo pointed at Genji accusingly “ _and were not finished.”_

* * *

 

            Tuesday comes and Hanzo had made his decision on whether he was going or not. He refused to tell Genji, mostly because he hadn’t made up his mind until they finally walked into school. 

            It was a normal day; classes came and went with not much trouble, but something ate at the back of Hanzo’s mind. Jesse didn’t show up to any of his classes. It wasn’t unusual for Jesse to miss first period but he usually showed up eventually.  Hanzo couldn’t help but let a small seed of guilt spread in his gut; what if Jesse thought he turned him down and was sulking because of that. No, that can’t be the case;Jessee didn’t seem like the kind of guy to sulk because someone turned down an invitation to a party. ( _And I didn’t evein turn him down yesterday)._

The day was long and quiet with no ye-haws, darlin’s, and other southern words and phrases. Hanzo tried not to dwell on the fact that even his friends didn’t know where he was when asked, they mostly said that he was probably just sick. But one of his friends, Fareeha, tensed up when Hanzo asked. Hanzo knew that she knew something, but her lips were sealed tight;  and she only reinforced what the others were saying.

* * *

 

The next time Hanzo saw Jesse was on Wednesday outside of school before class. He didn’t come in the buss like he usually did, instead he arrived in a Humvee. The car had hidden police lights on it that Hanzo picked out immediately _(did Jesse get into trouble?)._ someone was standing outside of the car talking to Jesse, the man was tall and dark skinned. He was wearing a simple black t-shirt that was a size too small, and back denim pants. He was staring daggers into Jesse who seemed to be just as intense.

 When the tension finally broke the huge man wrapped his arms around Jesse who seemed to crumple into the other man. Hanzo was more confused than ever.

Hanzo didn’t realize he was staring until Jesse turned around and made his way towards him. Dark bags hung under Jesse’s eyes and his usually glowing skin was a shade paler. Fresh tear tracks ran down his face as he desperately tried to wipe them away. Jesse didn’t seem to notice Hanzo as he brushed passed. He was completely different that day, the whole mood of the school seemed to come down with him. it was even worse than the day before; Because yesterday Hanzo knew why the school seemed so much quieter. he figured that it would lighten up now that Jesse retuned, but it did not.

Hanzo wanted to tell Jesse weather he wanted to go with him or not, but never found the right time. Jesse was awaze surrounded by his closest of friends who shut Hanzo out every time he tried to interact with Jesse.

And that’s how it was for the rest of the week, Jesse being dropped off by either that strange man or another police officer, looking like he was dragged through the gutter. Some other things Hanzo noticed throughout the whole ordeal was that Jesse was jumpy; every little sound had him scrambling. Case an point: Hanzo had just gotten Jesse alone to talk to him, then someone set off a firecracker in the hall. then had a full-blown panic attack right there and then. Fareeha was there in an instant calming him and pushing Hanzo away.

Jesse was a shell of his former self. Hanzo was never able to tell Jesse he wanted to go riding with the group, and it seemed that the whole thing was canceled by the time Sunday rolled around. Genji never left the house that weekend, saying that no one told him where the farm was.  Genji didn’t say anything about it but Hanzo knew that he was hurt. They ended up staying in playing Smash until late into the night, way passed when they should have gone to bed on a school night, but they had fun.

* * *

 

Monday came and Hanzo was not in a good mood. The lack of sleep from the night before and the growing anger with the people around him that refused to tell him anything.  Jesse was gone again, but this time so was Fareeha.  Hanzo asked the group of people that Jesse hung out with what was going on but all he got were shrugs.  He didn’t know why he wanted to know what was going on with Jesse, he barely knew the other teen, let alone need to be stressed out about his wellbeing.

Every time someone brought Jesse up in conversation it was in hushed tones that set Hanzo teeth on edge. As the week passed rumors spread like wildfire. The lack of both Jesse and Fareeha in the school was noticeable. Hanzo didn’t keep up with the sport teems of the school but had to be deaf to not hear how bad the girls’ basketball team was missing Fareeha. But the rumors of Jesse’s disappearance were the worst.

“he was a drug dealer, and he got caught”

“someone ran him over with their car”

“got trampled by a herd of cows”

“his dad shot him”

Each rumor was stranger then the last, especially the one about him getting shot. One of the few things that Hanzo found out during his quest to find infor mation about Jesse; was that the man he saw on Wednesday was Jesse’s father, and that said man was the head detective within the local police department. Hanzo looked up detective Reyes one night and found a treasure trove. Apparently, the man was a military figurehead years back, and retired after a huge drug bust in the middle of the New Mexican desert. He came to this little town then worked as an officer for several years before getting shot in the chest, apparently it did enough damage that it caused him to stop doing frontline work.  the only thing that Hanzo wanted to find in Mr. Reyes history that he couldn’t was any information on his wife or Jesse. Hanzo just figured that somewhere there was a miscommunication, or maybe, Reyes was a widower or something along those lines, everyone had their secrets.

Another week passes until Fareeha returns she looked worse for ware, but Jesse didn’t come along with her. It was going to be a while until Hanzo found out the truth of what happened to Jesse but he was determined to find out one way or another.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> almost done with world building if you hadn't cot on this chapter takes place during chapters 1-4 of Not Your Dad. the next chapter will (hopefully) be fining the world building and actually continue the overarching story from both stories. so thanks for the kudos and comments throughout all of my works each one makes me want to start writing then and there.  
> also here's my Tumblrs thedegu.tumblr.com (regular) and degusart.tumblr.com (art)


	3. alone

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Genji and Hanzo go though a rough spot,

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> more world building.

Hanzo had all but given up trying to find what happened to Jesse, he knew that it wasn’t healthy for him to obsess over something that he would never find out. So, he made his peace with that fact. it was a normal day two weeks before winter break and Hanzo was okay with life, everyone knew to leave him alone by now; to avoid the grumpy Shimada brother, And Hanzo was fine with that. He didn’t come to America to make friends he just needed to get away from Japan for a while. He didn’t need anyone. that’s what he told himself, he only needed himself.

Then there was Genji; he had exploded in popularity in the school. Everyone knew him and wanted to be his friend, and everyone was his friend. The second month in their time in the US, he started spending less and less time at the house, leavening on weekends to go to parties and reaves. Hanzo didn’t think about it, it was just Genji being Genji, he was still spending more time with Hanzo now than ever and that made Hanzo not care that he disappeared on the weekends. The third month in, Genji dyed his hair, Hanzo scolded him for doing so, it was against the school dress code, but Genji didn’t get into trouble the next school day. So he kept his neon green hair. Hanzo started dreading the holiday knowing that the two of them were going to go back to Japan to ‘celebrate’.

The fourth month, Genji started skipping classes. It started with him pretending to be sick, Hanzo knew better and knew that Genji was putting on a face to get out of school, but their host family was like clay in his hands, he was a good actor after all. Hanzo didn’t want to sell his brother out, he didn’t want to risk Genji getting kicked out of the house (even though he knew that the Winston family would never do such a thing).  Then Genji started skipping the classes he hated, then whole days at a time. Hanzo didn’t even know he was doing this, and Genji didn’t tell him. Hanzo did notice when Genji started sneaking out on school nights and chastised him when that he caught him in the act.

“what are you doing!” Hanzo hissed, it was three AM and Hanzo was up studying when he heard Genji’s door close.

“ _what do you think I am doing” Genji snarled._

Hanzo looked at Genji hard and long for the first time in a while. Even when Genji dyed his hair Hanzo didn’t look past the mess he made in their joined bathroom, but today in the darkness of the upstairs hall, Hanzo looked at his brother for the first time in a long time. He had dark circles under his eyes that were also severely bloodshot, his nose was red and had stains from past bleeds. His cheeks were hallowed form missing the family meals and school lunches, his usually glowing tone was yellowed under a layer of concealer.

“ _holly shit Genji,”_ Hanzo barely let out a gasp “ _you are using again. We moved away so that you could stop”_

            Genji didn’t fight Hanzo when his brother grabbed his arm and rolled up the long sleeve. His arm was a mess of puss and infection from the needle he used, his other arm wasn’t in much better condition.  Genji didn’t make any sound while Hanzo poked and prodded him, only wincing slightly as Hanzo applied pressure to his infected arm. Hanzo looked up at Genji trying to get anything from him, but when he looked into his brother’s eyes he found the pupils so dilated that he couldn’t see the color.

            Hanzo sighed and took his brother’s hand and lead him to their shared bathroom. He half lifted Genji onto the counter and told him to stay there as he looked through the cupboards.  Digging through the cabinets Hanzo finally found a bottle of hydrogen peroxide and a roll of ACE bandages. Though the bandages weren’t what he wanted exactly they would do for now ( _I can buy some actual bandages after school tomorrow)._

            Hanzo grabbed the worse of the two arms and gently squeezed it making a bit of puss bubble out of one of the larger wounds. He scrunched up his nose at the smell and whipped away as much as he could, Genji thankfully in his inebriated state didn’t seem to notice, he only stared off into space. It took an hour for Hanzo to be happy with how his job on the one arm and packed Kleenex onto the wound then wrapped it as best as he could. The other arm was not as infected as the first, and Hanzo was tired. he decided that some anti-bacterial ointment and a Band-Aid would do the trick.

            After this Hanzo lead Genji to his own bedroom and laid him on his bed, after Genji was put away and asleep, Hanzo made his way to Genji’s room. It was a mess, but no more than usual, and Hanzo got to work. After hours of searching in the piles of clothes and garbage, he ended up finding three baggies one with an assortment of pills, another with s powdery white substance and the last one filled to the brim with weed. He also had an assortment pipes, syringes, hard liquor, and a fake ID. By the time Hanzo had found all of these items the sun was starting to peek over the horizon. He took the drugs and other things into his room and put them in his closet and buried them under some of his clothes.

He wanted to talk to Genji when he was sober, but for right now, he needed sleep. Genji was cocooned within the bedcovers hogging all of them to himself. Hanzo didn’t care. He found the corner of the bed and curled into it.

 Hanzo didn’t know when he started crying but the soft sounds were enough for someone to notice. There was a soft knock at the door, and Hanzo bit his lip trying to stifle the sounds coming from him. The person outside the door waited for a moment and knocked again, this time with more force. Again, Hanzo waited. then the door opened, it was Athena, she was still in her pajamas hair unkempt and coffee cup in hand. She looked at the scene before her and Hanzo froze, not knowing what to do.

“Hanzo, would you like to talk?” she asked gently “I can make us breakfast if you’d like”

Hanzo nodded, and slowly stood up wavering for a second before following her down the stairs. Athena didn’t say anything as she finished her cup of coffee and made breakfast, Hanzo only looked at his hands as she did so, lost in thought. He was broken from his downwards spiraling thoughts when a bowl of rice with a poached egg on top was placed in front of him. along with a cup of tea and a bowl of miso soup.  He looked at the feast put in front of him and held back tears.

“why are you being so nice to me?” Hanzo couldn’t help but ask

Athena shrugged and nursed her second cup of coffee “I wanted to, if you don’t want it we have some of those poptars that you like”

Hanzo shook his head and continued staring at the meal; it was just like being back home. with Genji upstairs riding his current high, and Hanzo having breakfast made by someone he barely knew. He ate the meal before him slowly, the egg was overcooked, the rice was instant, and the soup form a package, but it was home. Hanzo hated home.

“do you know why I singed Genji and I up for the forging exchange program,” Hanzo asked. Athena shook her head and Hanzo sighed

“would you consider this under doctor-patient confidentiality,” Hanzo asked

“Hanzo, like I always say, my office is always open, and to answer your question, yes” Athena answered in her calming voice.

Hanzo sighs and starts “I come from a very powerful family back in Japan, old money and a lot of it, as does Genji. But I am going to be to sole heir of our family’s empire once our father dies, but that was not always certain. I was very sickly as a child, so Genji was only ‘made’ so that if I were to die they would have someone to fall back on. But my parents did not end up needing Genji.  My father owns many businesses and is very powerful, some of the things he does are less than…”

Hanzo is shaking now and Athena does not rush him as he catches his breath. He continues “less than moral, we are involved with the yakuza, not directly but we supply them with certain things and they pay us well in both money and protection. My father is not a bad man, but he is not a good one either. he has never stricken us or anything like that, and he has always paid for the best everything; best tutors, best chefs, best clothes groomed us. no, me to be the man he needs me to be when he is gone.  But at the same time, he is never there, if we're lucky he would come to dinner once a month, and mother is not much better.

But that is not the worse part, they both hate Genji, they pretend that he does not exist, he has always been there for me. I was there when he was born I was the one to take care of him once I was well enough to do so. And once I was clear of my sickness he became dead to the family, they still paid for him, bailed him out of jail, and bribed judges so that he would not soil the family name. my father hates him, and my mother does not care, his ‘friends’ only like him for his money, and I fear if he were to die I would be the only one to mourn him.

I fear he is going to die soon, from a world of his own making, thinking that no one cares for him. But I do, he is the only person I love in my family, he is my baby brother and I want the best for him. But he is killing himself, and I don’t know what to do. He does these things to get our parent’s attention, even if it is just a scornful look as they walk him out of a police station. I want him to be happy, but I cannot do anything to do so. Back in Japan whenever we were around each other we fought, screamed, threw punches. we were out for blood. I do not know why he did it, probably because I was cruel to him, but I did it because I wanted him to see reason, to stop killing himself, and I thought that coming to the states might change that. Get him away from our parents, away from the party scene and the drugs; and for a while, it worked, but last night…I… I”

Hanzo holds back a sob “I have failed him again”

Athena is about to say something when a crash comes from upstairs. Hanzo is up in an instant rushing up the stairs and into Genji’s bedroom. Genji was now awake and tearing his room apart. the crash came from his desk lamp that was currently shattered on the floor. He was mumbling to himself incoherently, Hanzo could see the blood staining the ACE bandages on his arm and he tore off the sheets on his bed. Hanzo cleared his throat and Genji swung around wild-eyed

“ _where the fuck did you put them”_ Genji screamed “ _they were here last night and now they’re not”_

 _“Genji, you are not in your right mind, you are in withdraw. Pleases stop you are going to hurt yourself”_ Hanzo says calmly, as he walks slowly towards his rampaging brother. Genji runs his hands through his hair and over his face. He looks back up to Hanzo and bares his teeth

“ _don’t you fucking dare tell me I am not in my right mind, I am perfectly sane. And I would be much better if you would just fucking tell me where my meds are.”_

 _“so that is what you are calling them now your ‘meds’”_ Hanzo couldn’t help but let the contempt ooze out of his words, he was begging to become fed up with his brother’s actions “ _you are killing yourself on these ‘meds’ do you know that huh? Do you remember me finding you blitzed out of your mind last night trying to sneak out of the house to go to god knows where?”_

Genji was furious now and screamed “maybe that’s what I want huh? Had you ever thought that that could be a possibility? maybe some people aren’t happy little daddy’s boys getting everything they want. Maybe some of us are suffering, had you considered that Hanzo, oh mighty heir of the Shimada empire.”

“Genji that is not what this is about and you know it, now please just listen to me for once,” Hanzo says trying to keep his cool

Genji continues his assault “Fuck you Hanzo, I don’t need you to tell me what to do, I don’t need any of you. You just go and look for that cowboy some more! I don’t care”

“ _do not bring Jesse into this, he was the only one kind to me at that school and I just wanted to know what happened to him. Is that too much to ask”_ Hanzo is ready to strike with those last words out of his mouth, and is ready for Genji to strike. And he does, Genji tries to tackle him to the ground, but Hanzo easily counters his brother, pinning him to the ground instead. Genji gets his feet underneath Hanzo and throws him off, as Hanzo stagers Genji takes a swing at his face making contact. Hanzo sees stars for a moment then there is a knee in his gut and he is on the ground. Genji stands over him and swings back his leg to kick his brother but is stopped when Winston wraps his arms around him and lifts him off of the ground. Genji screams and curses in Japanese and English but Winston’s keeps a strong hold on the teen.

Hanzo is still seeing stars and doesn’t move when Athena comes to him. She says something but the combination of fiscal, emotional and mental exhaustion from the past day catches up with Hanzo making his vision swim. His stomach hurts where Genji kicked him and his cheek throbs from where the punch connected, but his blood was still boiling. Athena was trying to get his attention, but all he could hear was Genji screaming

 “I HATE HANZO, YOU HEAR ME HATE YOU, YOU FUCKING HYPOCRITE, YOU’RE JUST LIKE FATHER, AND I HATE YOU!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this wasn't the plan for this chapter, but it just kind of came up as I was writing it, so yea. sersously though next chapter is going to continue mchanzo (or I guess start maybe). this chapter was also kind of a therapy session, I don't really have anything going on that needs therapy but it was nice to take out some things on fictional characters so yea lots of pain in this chapter.  
> also here's my Tumblrs thedegu.tumblr.com (regular) and degusart.tumblr.com (art)


	4. Reunions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Genji goes missing, but Jesse comes back.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally (kind of) getting to the romance

“Shimada, Shimada!” detective Reyes’s voice broke through Hanzo’s current stupor. They were sitting in the police station at Reyes’s desk in his office. The office itself was dark due to the lack of windows and the half-burnt out overhead lights. It was moody, to say the least, but that mood was broken, with the walls being plastered with children’s drawings and family photos. It was uncanny; the difference between the mood of the walls and the detective’s personality.

            “I can’t help you if you don’t help me Shimada” Reyes warned “please, I want to find him just as much as you do, just tell me what I need to know”

            Hanzo sighs and runs his hands over his face he was exhausted his cheek burned ware the bone was fractured and his gut ached where the bruise was placed.  He thought about what to say how to explain his situation to this stranger. “we had a fight, we both threw punches, and after he grabbed his things and ran”

            “what did you fight about?” Gabriel asked.

            “what does that have to do with anything!” Hanzo snarled “Just go out there and look for my brother!”

            The detective scowled at Hanzo and looked like he was about to say something when there was a knock at the door. The woman at the door was wearing a beat cop uniform and large loop earrings, she stood very tall and bother her hair and dark skin betrayed her African descent.

            “Mr. Shimada is here,” she says in a thick African accident

            “thank you Orisa,” Reyes says “send him in”

            within moments Mr. Shimada entered the room. He was wearing one of his nicer suits his hair up in a bun and tied back with a black scarf.  The sixteen-hour flight he just took didn’t seem to bother him at all. He did not even seem to notice Hanzo as he walked in. he walks right past his son and shakes hands with Reyes. then both gave a slight bow.

            “Sojiro Shimada, it is nice to meet you, detective, though I which it was under other circumstances” Mr. Shimada states flatly expression unchanging. He sits on the chair next to Hanzo’s. He seems to lazily scan the room for anything interesting, looking more bored with the situation than anything else. The detective looked between the two Shimadas and cleared his throat getting their attention.

            “as I was saying to your son Mr. Shimada” Reyes continues “is there any reason that Genji would want to run away?”

            “no” Sojiro states firmly.

            “alright… no family issues, no drug use anything like that?”

            “no and no,” Sojiro stiffens slightly “Genji has the best of anything that he would want if he does not see that and wants to live off of the streets so be it. Detective this is not the first time Genji has done something like this, I hope that Hanzo would had made that apparent by now.”

            Reyes raised an eyebrow at the last statement and glanced at Hanzo; who was looking like he wanted to melt into the plastic chair he was sitting in. Sojiro reaches into his front coat pocket and pulls out a slip of paper and starts scribbling on it. Hanzo is all too familiar with that paper.

            “I do not want this disappearance reaching anyone outside of this office detective, and I would hope that you could keep your investigation to a minimum” Sojiro slides the blank check across the desk and makes unblinking eye contact with the detective “if Genji decides to come back home he will be welcomed with open arms, but if  he does not. it is his choice to ruin his life.”

            “Mr. Shimada, you do realize that bribing an officer is a punishable offense”  Reyes says not faltering in the slightest.

            “ _Hanzo!”_ Sojiro’s hiss brought Hanzo straight to attention “ _would you give me and the detective here a moment to ourselves”_

Hanzo shot out of his chair in a millisecond and was out of the office in just as much time. His hands were sweaty beyond anything and he felt clammy, enough so that he didn’t feel the constant throbbing in his face. He walked over to the desk that the officer that came in erlar is now sitting at. she glances up at Hanzo and looks like she is about to say something but Hanzo interrupts her.

            “if my father needs me tell him I am waiting outside.” With that Hanzo turns on his heel and walks out of the double doors and into the parking lot. The chill of winter was unmistakable and the whips of snow that clung onto the dead grass. It wasn’t enough to completely cover the ground and both the sidewalk and the parking lot were completely clear of it. But the start of winter was unmistakable.

            Hanzo’s breath came out in white puffs. the lack of any heavy clothing and the quickly dwindling amount of adrenaline in his system made Hanzo fall into a shivering mess. He didn’t realize he wasn’t alone until he smelled the cigarette smoke, which didn’t help his turning stomach. 

            “hey, you okay their partner?” a familiar voice broke the silence and Hanzo turned.

            It was Jesse, there in the flesh. He was wearing a heavy pullover hoodie that seemed to be eating him whole, and both of his hands were buried deep in the pocket of the garment. The offending cigarette hung from his lip. His eyebrows were furrowed and a look of complete bewilderment ran across his face.

            “well, shit! If it ain’t Shimada!” the other teen cheered, then seemed to notice that Hanzo was holding his breath. At the realization, Jesse quickly snuffed out his smoke and smiled. “how have you been doin’”

            Hanzo couldn’t help but just stare at the other. He wanted to say something but the words eluded him, and his chattering teeth did not help either. Again, Jesse seemed to notice this, and in an instant, he tore off his oversized hoodie and handed it to Hanzo.

            “don’ worry about me gettin’ cold, I'm a regular furnace,” Jesse says sheepishly. Hanzo stairs at the soft grey material and runs his fingers over the fleece lining. Deciding that it would be rude to turn the other down Hanzo through on the shirt. The shirt was big on Jesse, so Hanzo was just about swimming in it. The hoodie was immensely warm and soft.  Jesse must have been right with his assessment of being a furnace because the shirt felt like it just came out of the dryer.

            “t-thank you” Hanzo stammered out. He glanced at Jesse again and did a double-take. Jesse was missing his left arm.

            It was just gone, the long-sleeved t-shirt that he was wearing was tied in a knot where the arm used to be. Jesse shifted uncomfortably where he was standing, Hanzo quickly looked away when he realized what he that he was staring at the missing appendage. Hanzo breathed out an apology and Jesse returned it with a grunt. A few minutes of uncomfortable silence passed, as Hanzo warmed himself.

            “is that why you stopped coming to school?” Hanzo tried his best not to sound annoyed or too harsh, but the words still came out with some venom.

            “yea, don’t really feel like talking about it though” Jesse scratched the back of his head uncomfortably and shifted slightly “what brings you to the station?”

            “don’t really feel like talking about it,” Hanzo says, trying to put a small southern twang in his voice as he says it. That gets a small chuckle out of Jesse, which eases Hanzo slightly.

            “did ja’ win?” Jesse asks. The question confuses Hanzo until Jesse points at his cheek. Hanzo seizes up trying to think of something to say before Jesse interrupts “I bet ya’ did. Just like when we were doing self-defense and you pinned Troy in like two milliseconds. Man, his face when you did that, ya looked like a ninja right then”

            It was Hanzo’s turn to chuckle. That was a funny moment; troy is about as much as a cliché bully as you could get. He was saying things that would have gotten him killed if they were in Japan, and called Hanzo things that he would never want to repeat. But Hanzo was able to put the other teen (that was literally twice his size) into headlock than a pin then through him quite literally across the room. It was one of the few times in school that Hanzo smiled.

            “it was rather humorous wasn’t it,” Hanzo says.

            The two stayed like that for hours. At one point, they decided to sit on the front steps to the station. They sat next to each other, and they talked, not about anything in particular, but they talked. Hanzo mostly about the school year so far, and couldn’t help but tell some of the juicer rumors that were spreading through the school currently. Jesse talked about things that he saw on the internet the past few days. whenever they would get to a topic that Hanzo didn’t feel comfortable talking about Jesse quickly changed the subject and cracked a joke to put Hanzo back at ease.

            The sun was starting to set when the door opened and Sojiro walked out. He looked ever so slightly flustered. Hanzo stood at attention as soon as he saw his father, cutting Jesse off the story he was currently telling of him almost burning down his hose via toaster.

            “ _Hanzo,”_ Sojiro’s voice felt like nails on a chalkboard “ _we are leaving.”_

Hanzo started clawing his way out of the loaned hoodie when Jesse says, “take it, ya look cu- like ya need it more than I do”

            Jesse gives a smile and a wave as Hanzo follows his father to the car.

“see ya around Shimada!” Jesse half-shouts towards Hanzo

Hanzo turns for half a second and says, “you may me Hanzo”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hay sorry it took so long for this chapter to come out, had a bit of writers block over the past week. so yea...  
> also if anyone was wondering the ages of the 'teens' in this story are Hanzo is 17, Jesse is 16 (he is only a few months younger then hanzo), Genji, Fareeha, and Lena are all 16, and sombra is 13. both jack and gabe are in their mid 30s and Winston and Athena are both in their 40s. if you have any questions feel free to ask!  
> also also here's my Tumblrs thedegu.tumblt.com (regular) degusart.tumblr.com (art)  
> thanks for all of the feed back and kudos! they really mean the world to me!


	5. Conversations

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jesse talks to Fareeha, and Gabe talks to Sojiro

Jesse lay on his bed sprawled out in any which direction, his head was rested on his best friend’s stomach. Fareeha was going over flash cards with him and was sitting up against the headboard of the bed. the room was filled with the sound of Jonny Cash along with her constant questioning.  It was going on six as Fareeha continued to go over different subjects with Jesse. Jesse could not get his mind into the work though, whenever he tried his mind just seemed to wander further and further.

“come on Jesse you know this” Fareeha says exacerbated “what are internal feedback mechanisms?”

“wha…” to be honest Jesse wasn’t listening at all. He just ended up shrugging and Fareeha gave a grunt of annoyance.

“Jesse.” Fareeha says in a motherly tone “I'm not doing this for my health, if you don’t want my help I could be doing a lot of other things right about now.”

Jesse shot up raised his hands in defense “sorry free’. My head is just not here right now”

“really, I didn’t notice” she says sarcastically “but really, what’s wrong?”

“it’s just…” Jesse starts, not knowing what to say or how to say it. “Fareeha, you and I are best friends, right?”

“Jesse, I am laying in you smelly ass room with you helping you with your homework on a Friday night” Fareeha says dramatically “what do you think?”

“I just don’t want to ruin that,” Jesse confesses “I don’t want you to hate me”

“Jesse there is no way you could make me hate you” Fareeha states “even if you killed someone I would be there with you burying the body. You know that right?”

“yea I know that, it’s just that this is a big thing for me, and I don’t want this to change because of it.”

Fareeha sighs and leans into Jesse and wraps her arms around him “Jesse you can tell me anything.”

Jesse nods and finds his words “I saw Hanzo yesterday at the station. He looked like he got into a brawl or something, but he didn’t want to talk about it and that was fine with me. I understand that type of thing.

 An’ we started talking, catching up that sort of thing .it was so nice us just talking, then he smiled at one point and… and…”

  
            Jesse pauses trying to find the right words again. Fareeha waits patiently for him, and squeezes his leg grounding him before he continues “and towards the end I finally realized that I like him, like I want to be his friend or maybe more than that? I want to see that smile all of the time, I want to see _him_ all of the time. and what I am trying to say is… I think I'm gay…”

Fareeha can’t help but let out the smallest chuckle at the realization that this is what everything is about and says “Jesse, I’ve known your gay since the day we met. That is one of the reasons I’ve felt so comfortable around you.  You’re my best friend and nothing could ever change that.”

Jesse couldn’t help but let a few tears slip down his face when she says that. He leans into Fareeha who wraps her arms around him again and hold him tight for a moment. She clears her throat and pushes away, they separate and Fareeha says sacristy “but the grumpy Shimada bro, really?”

Jesse chuckles, “yea him, but I doubt he would feel the same. I mean look at him! He’s definitely not into guys, and even if he was I doubt that he would be into someone like me.”

Fareeha shrugs “well, either way, it’s his loss”

* * *

 

Gabriel sits at the kitchen counter looking at his computer. he can vaguely hear Jesse and Fareeha talking in Jesse’s room but not enough to make out the words. The house was relatively quiet, beyond the muffled conversations, and the soft sounds of Sombra playing on her computer in her room. Even though the house was filled, he felt very alone in his thoughts.

He sat there in his chair. the words that he said and the deal that he made yesterday keep running in his head. he can feel the weight of the slip of paper in his pocket the words hanging in his throat. It was nauseating.

“if Genji decides to come back home he will be welcomed with open arms, but if he does not. it is his choice to ruin his life.” Sojiro Shimada Had said, pushing the blank check across Gabriel’s desk. The thought of taking a bribe had always been sickening to Gabe, and that moment was no different.

“Mr. Shimada, you do realize that bribing an officer is a punishable offense” he retorted almost spitting in the face of the elder Shimada. Sojiro hissed something in Japanese to his son, who then almost leaped out of his chair and ran out of the room. it was just the two men in the room.

“I understand that you are a man of the law detective, and I appreciate your loyalty to your work” Sojiro explains, his whole demeanor chaining “and I hoped that you would appreciate the loyalty I have to my family and my business. I cannot have people knowing that my son doing something so stupid, and abandoning his family. do you understand? I simply want you to stop your investigation; it would be best if you did so, for both of us”

“Genji is a minor, and he ran away from home” Gabriel states, blood starting to boil “not to mention that isn’t even in his home country.”

“Genji has always been a problem child, and I do wish for him to come home, but he needs to decide to do that on his own” Sojiro says “I simply wish that you would listen to reason.”

Sojiro picks up the check and holds it between his index and middle finger “this is a blank check, I can put as many zeros as you would like on it, and all you need to do is call off your investigation, it’s that simple. I have ways that so that you would never be caught for doing this, no one will ever know. Just think about the opportunities, you could buy a new car or a house, or pay for college for your lovely children”

With the last comment Sojiro gestures with his free hand towards a picture on Gabriel’s desk. It was of Gabe with Sombra and Jesse under each arm all of them smiling widely.

“or maybe medical bills?” Sojiro smiled when he saw Gabriel stiffen slightly as the last suggestion passed through his lips. Gabe didn’t say anything for a good five minutes, and neither man seemed to move a muscle during that time. Gabe just looked at the photos on his desk, thoughts running a thousand miles an hour through his head.

“how many are you willing to pay?” Gabe couldn’t believe the words coming out of his mouth. It felt like someone else was talking through him.

“all of them and then some” Sojiro smiled from ear to ear.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> yay another chapter! have been feeling very inspired and motivated recently so thats nice. Jesse coming out to Fareeha is loosely based on me coming out as bi to my sister. so yea this chapter was fun to write in general, with It kind of just being relaxed but also bringing in some plot. as always thank you for the kudos and comments, they are what keep writing everyday.


	6. A very Reyes Christmas

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> the Reyes and their found family are having their 'Christmas' together, when they get an unexpected guest.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> yes a Christmas chapter at the end of July. it just worked out that way okay?

It was Christmas day; the house was still trashed from the party the day before. Gabe looked at this scene in front of him and couldn’t help but let the smile creep across his face. Jesse was passed out on the couch being used as a pillow by Sombra. Fareeha lay on the floor wrapped in about a dozen blankets. days like this he could almost forget his past, and just think about the here and now.

He walked up to the couch and sat on the armrest next to Jesse’s head. he sat there just watching his children sleep for some time, their breathing and small twitches the only movements in their sleep. He reached down and brushed a few hairs out of Jesse’s face and smiled softly when Jesse scrunched up his nose because of the action.

“hay hijo,” Gabe says softly trying to only wake Jesse. Jesse makes a small grunt in annoyance and slowly blinks his eyes open.

“merry Christmas” Gabe says still in a hushed tone “I made breakfast, and there is something I want to show you”

Jesse grunts again and slowly rises, making sure to not wake Sombra. Luckily Sombra is a sound sleeper because Jesse’s getting untangled from her is less then graceful. After Jesse is successfully dislodged from Sombra the two men go to the kitchen.

 Jesse rubs his eyes like a toddler as he walks into the dining area. A plate full of scrambled eggs with chorizo and hot sauce piled high. After a few minutes of gorging Gabe knows that Jesse is awake enough.

Gabe pulls out a blank envelope and hands it to his son. Jesse looks at it curiously and runs his hands over the simple paper. He opens it without saying anything letting the selince wash over the room. He reads over the contents which says:

            Dear Mr. Jesse McCree Reyes,

It has come to our attention that you are in need of a prosthetic. Here at the Vishkar Corporation we specialize in cases like yours, though our company is world renown for our architecture, our second calling is the manufacture and design of state-of-the-art prosthesis. We are world’s leader in such endeavors.

 

Your surgery, physical therapy, hospital stay, family boarding and the prosthetic have been paid in full by an anonymous donor. We hope to see you for your first appointment Wednesday, January 20th, at 8:00 am sharp. At our state of the art medical pavilion, in Cincinnati.  It will be a pleasure to on your case and I think that we could help you eminency.

            Jesse just stared at the letter unable to come up with any words. He could feel the streaks of hot tears run down his face. He makes a pained sound as if he is being punched in the gut, and that is what it feels like. Gabriel just sits across from him small smile creeping across his face. Suddenly Jesse shoots up and races around and embraces Gabe in a tight hug.

            “how?” is all that Jesse can manage to say

            “someone just wanted you to have a nice Christmas” Gabe says ( _it’s not a complete lie)_ “your story must had reached some powerful ears somewhere out there”

            They stay like that for some time, just enjoying each other’s company as the rest of the household wakes up. Ana Is the first one to wake coming into the kitchen and scolding the boys for not making their houseguests breakfast. Gabe playfully jabs back that with as much time the Amaris spend at his house they aren’t considered guests, but actually tenants that don’t pay rent.

            This gets Gabe a good-natured smack on the back of the head. It was going on noon by the time everyone had waken up. Gabe and Jesse had made French toast for everyone for brunch. Sombra was about bouncing off of the walls by the time they finished eating. It made Gabe glad to see her so out of her shell in front of people outside of Jesse. He rarely saw her like this let alone around people she barely knew.

            The group made their way to the family room and passes presents around. This is the way both families spent Christmas since Gabe adopted Jesse. They called it Christmas just for simplicity’s sake, but Gabe was the only Christion in the house and he wasn’t even active in his religion.  They mostly just celebrated for the excuse to gorge themselves and give presents to their little found family.

             “here” Fareeha says while handing a small wrapped box to Jesse “this is for you”

            Jesse gladly takes the gift and tares it open without a second thought. The inside of the box is a single piece of mettle, a belt buckle with the inscribed letters BAMF. Jesse starts laughing harder than he has in a long time, getting the attention on the rest of the group. They all take turns looking at the buckle and join Jesse in his laughter.

            After most of the chaos had finally broken down, there was a knock at the door. Jesse jumps up to get it. He still has a wide smile as he opens the door, but drops as soon as he sees the person in front of him.

“Genji?”

Gabe shot up as soon as he heard Jesse call him, and Ana was not far behind. They stop in their tracks when they see Jesse half holding another teen up. Gabe immediately recognizes the other teen as Genji Shimada. His heart drops for many reasons, mostly because of the condition that Genji was in. he smelled awful the stench radiating off of him like death.  His skin was yellowed but pail at the same time, his brow dripped with sweat even though the temperature outside was well below freezing. He also gagged a few times as Jesse tried to take him further into the house. His face was the worst of all of the sights, dried blood covered his mouth from where his nose bled onto it as well as from the large gash that ran from above his right eyebrow to just below his chin on the other side. His nose was also obviously broken in serval places. His whole face was a wreck of blood and torn skin.

Ana pushed Gabe aside immediately going into emergency room doctor mode.

“Jesse get him to the bathroom.” She states “Sombra get as much snow as you can from outside, we need to get his temperature down. Fareeha, start up the bath get it as cold as you can. Gabe call 911.”

Everyone immediately swung into gear, except Gabriel. Who just stood there in shock not knowing what to do.

“Gabriel Reyes!” Ana shouted, “call an ambulance!”

“I can’t” he barely whippers.

Jesse looked at his friend. Genji was barely conscious as he lay in the bathtub fully clothed. Ana was working on ripping off his shirt and Jesse couldn’t help but stair at what he was seeing. Genji’s arms were green, some of his fingers were black and falling off, large purple bruises covered his stomach and chest. He mumbled innocently in both Japanese and English. One of his legs was twisted at an awkward angle and a large gash was taken out of his jeans and into his flesh. Jesse wanted to through up at the sight and the smell, Sombra did.

“Ana I need to speak to you,” Gabe says slowly, only peaking his head into the crowded bathroom.

“unless it is the ambulance’s ETA I don’t want to hear it” Ana snapped

“no, but I need to talk to you now” Gabe insisted, something about his demeanor made Jesse think about a toddler getting their hand caught in a cookie jar. He shifted uncomfortably in the doorway as Ana worked. After what seemed like an eternity but was in all reality was only ten minutes Ana turned around and glared at Gabe. Gabe gestured and Ana who made an annoyed nose, but still stood and started to follow.

“Jesse make sure that his head stays out of the water” Ana orders sternly “he’s in rough enough shape, he doesn’t need to drown on top of it”  
Jesse obeyed and held Genji’s head out of the frigid water. Genji broke in and out of conscious over the five minutes the two adults were away. Jesse could feel the burning hot skin under his hands subside as the frigid water did its trick. He flinched when he heard Ana yell from the other room “YOU DID WHAT!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> another chapter, sorry it took so long for this chapter to come out, I'm taking comp2 over the summer and that takes priority over this fic. whenever I feel like writing I put that energy towards projects for class, and by the time I'm done with them, I feel like I never want to see a keyboarded again.  
> Anyways, like always, here are my Tumblrs thedegu.tumblr.com (regular) degusart.tumblr.com (art)


	7. A very Shimada Christmas pt1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It is Christmas at the Shamed castle, and the holiday party goes without a hitch, but hanzo does anything but enjoy himself during or after the celebration.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> another Christmas chapter in the middle of July!

           The crowd shuffled in and out of the ballroom within the Shimada castle. Some more obviously inebriated then others, while others still were mingling amongst themselves. The great hall was filled with traditional instrumental music, (a mix of generic holiday music and some traditional Japanese celebration music) and the hum of nondescript conversations. Everyone was dressed like they were going to a fashion show; with each outfit more ridiculous then the last. Everyone was trying to be seen, but because of the cacophony of colors no one caught the eye more than anyone else.

            At one end of the hall was a great table covered with a spread of food that probably cost l as much as a small house.  The table was just as expensive made out of a single piece of reclaimed redwood. The dining table seemed to be the only thing at least somewhat modern in the room. On the only wall without floor to ceiling windows held century’s old tapestries and paintings. On high shelves in glass display cases were priceless urns, vases, ancient charms and trinkets; each of these items more expensive then the last. If the room didn’t have all of gaudy people in it, it would have been quite tasteful.

            Someone started tapping their glass with a spoon, getting the partygoers attention. Sojiro Shimada stood holding his Champaign flute up towards the crowd;  while  standing on the slightly elevated platform that the band was previously playing on. He wore a royal blue suit with stitching made out of actual gold. The suit was understated compared to most of the other outfits that were being worn in the room. His hair was in a tight bun held tight by a flowing golden scarf that had fine embroidery stitched into it.

            “than you to everyone that came tonight” Sojiro states almost breaking from his usual monotone drawl “the Shimadas are always welcome our guests, especially during the winter holidays. But this year, the holidays are not the only reason we are celebrating. I need to make an announcement”

            Sojiro looked down at his wife and Hanzo, gesturing to them to join him on the stage. Hanzo obeys albeit slowly. His mind and body were acting sluggish due to the past week of sleepless nights, and that he convinced one of the servants to smuggle him in a dose of valium for his constant anxiety.  Hanzo was barely able to keep his own mind in one piece let alone understand what he father was talking about. Sojiro droned on for twenty minutes talking about things like tradition, family, loyalty and all of that other bull that he talked about every year at the holiday party. Hanzo almost found himself falling asleep standing up, but woke with a jump when his mother pinched his arm to wake him; luckily, everyone was concentrating on his father and to at Hanzo’s exhaustion.

            “family and tradition, that is what makes the Shimada enterprises the third most profitable companies in all of Asia, and the most profitable in japan.” A few cheers and ‘here here’s came from the crowd “and the Shimada empire will only grow with the next generation.”

            Sojiro grabbed Hanzo by his shoulder and wrenched him in front of himself, “once Hanzo is done with this schooling this year, he is to become my right hand in the company. After a few years under me he is to take his birthright of being the head of the Shimada empire,”

            Hanzo’s heart dropped, did he hear that right? Sojiro is going to take him out of school a year early and bring him into the business? Hanzo didn’t know what to feel, he always knew that this day was coming, but no one told him that it would be announced today. His mind was suddenly acutely aware of what was going on, there was a good hundred-plus eyes on him. All of which were expecting him to say something. Hanzo fought the urge to vomit as he stood on the small stage. The only thing he could think of was not makeing a fool of himself in front of all of his father’s investors and business partners, and not pass out from shock and exhaustion. Hanzo takes a deep breath, trying to center himself somewhat, regretting not taking mediation training the past few years.

            He finally finds his words after about three solid minutes of silence. “thank you, father, and thank you to everyone that came tonight” he starts, talking about as quickly as his drugged mind would let him “this is an honor and a privilege to have all of you here, and to have you witness the greatest privilege that I could receive.  I hope that one day I will be leading you from the office of my father, and my father’s father. Thank you again for coming to our party and helping Shamada enterprises become what it is today”

            Hanzo had broken out into a cold sweat by the time the last words came out of his mouth. He wavered as his father finished his speech trying his hardest to stay standing, his mother having to pinch him twice more to keep him awake. But eventually Sojiro finished and Hanzo rushed off of the stage. A few people taking him aside to congratulate him or to threaten him not to screw up the company. Those who did threaten him seemed to vanish from the party not shortly afterwards.  Hanzo exchanged pleasantries with those who caught him while he slowly made his way towards the door.

            Hanzo exhaled once he was out of the public wing of the castle, knowing that there would be no more guests to bother him. He slowly wondered through the maze-like halls of the castle, finally showing after what felt like miles up at his bedroom. The door was nondescript, and looked like any of the other doors in the estate, but Hanzo knew of the safety on the other side

            He walked it to his room, which was more of an upscale apartment then a bedroom, complete with a small kitchen, living space, full bathroom, and bedroom. Hanzo took to the bathroom first, striping while doing so. The bathroom was his favorite place in his whole room. It held a large soaking tub that was big enough to swim in, a shower with more sprayer heads to count a large sink and vanity. the whole thing was laid on top of heated marble tiles.  Hanzo turned on the water of the shower, only using two of the numerous shower heads, at the hottest that they would go. The water burned slightly as he walked in the heat quickly steaming up the whole bathroom and turned his skin lobster red. Hanzo didn’t know when or why he started crying, his tears quickly mixing with the hot water and running down the drain.

            After over an hour of feeling sorry for himself Hanzo decided that he was done abusing his skin and slunk out of the shower. He considered shaving, but decided that that would take too much energy. Then he shortly contemplated brushing his teeth, again deciding that it he did not have enough to even do that simple task.  He shivered as he came out of the bathroom into the cold apartment, and shuffled his way through the living space and into his bedroom only wearing his briefs.

            His room was cold and dark, and Hanzo wandered to his awaiting bed (his second favorite place in his room). He pulled back the covers and just starred at what he found. Someone was in his bed. he quickly turned on his lights and found the gun that was hidden in one of his drawers.

            “what the hell are you doing in my room” Hanzo hissed. The person shifted and slowly woke, it was a woman not much older than Hanzo himself. Her hair was in a neat braid that trailed down her shoulder and over her chest. As the woman rose Hanzo quickly became very uncomfortable, due to the fact that she was wearing nothing more then a lacy bra and panties. The strange woman eyeballed Hanzo and smiled as if she did not notice him holding a gun to her.

            “Hanzo, didn’t your father remember to tell you about the gift he left in your room for you?” the woman asked as she crawled forward in the bed “not just anyone can get me as a gift”

            “my father bought me a prostitute…” Hanzo deadpans. “and she is sleeping in my bed

             The woman looks hurt at Hanzo’s words and says, “I'm not a prostitute, I'm an escort of the highest degree. you kept me waiting, and I got tired”

The woman pouts at Hanzo and Hanzo runs his hands over his face trying to wrap his head around what is going on. “look Ms.…”

“Emi” the woman interrupts

“Ms. Emi, all I want right now is to sleep.” Hanzo says exacerbated “I have a photon in the other room, I can get you some blankets and pillows if you would like. But right now, I just want to sleep”

the woman blinks at Hanzo. a look of confusion, anger, sadness all cross her face in a flash. She slowly gets out of the bed and gives a half smile to Hanzo and shrugs.

“photon it is then” Emi says sadly.

Hanzo finds an extra set of blankets and pillows and makes a bed for his now guest. As he is doing this Emi wonders out of his room wearing a grey sweatshirt with fleece lining. Hanzo stoops in his tracks.

“take that off” he says the devil in his voice, Emi smiles wildly as she rushes across the room and tears off the sweatshirt. She starts undoing her bra as Hanzo picks up Jesse’s sweatshirt off of the ground. He looks at her again and see that she is no longer wearing her bra, she rushes him and starts undoing his pants.

“stop. Stop! STOP” Hanzo yells, and Emi immediately does so “what are you doing!”

Emi looks beyond confused “you said to take off the shirt… I thought that?”

Hanzo sighs and pinches the bridge of his nose. “I do not want sex, I just did not want you to ware this shirt… it is sentimental to me. Now please just go to bed”

Hanzo says nothing more as he goes to his room. He genially places the hoodie on the bed and digs out an old t-shirt then tosses it out into the other room.

“good night Emi” Hanzo says then slams the door shut.

He curls up around the sweater. It still smells like cheap cigarette smoke and even cheaper cologne. The smell is fading fast and now has the slightest sent of some sort of cherry blossom perfume intermingled in it. Hanzo is able to ignore the new interloping sent, and finds comfort in the familiar sent. He drifts off into sleep faster than he has in quite a while.

* * *

 

Hanzo is in a field full of knee high grass. The grass extends as far as the eye can see in every direction; the sun is directly above his head and the sky is clear, but in the distance roiling storefront is rushing in. in a matter of moments or maybe hours the sky is completely grey. Blue flashes of lightning strike within feet of Hanzo, but he does not feel fear while in this storm, it is almost familiar, like being home. He looks up and sees lighting coalesce into something huge, it doesn’t strike or fade as the minutes go by, it only grows bigger and more solid.

 The large bolt suddenly breaks into two but nether reduce in size, they both grow and they both descend. Thy are no longer lightning but now are dragons, brothers. Both dragons hover just above the ground neither of them touch even a single blade of grass as they circle Hanzo, who still feels no fear. 

One of them speaks, with a voice like that of thunder from miles away “you are a Shamada, yet you do not act like one”

The other one speaks now, with a voice like crackling electricity “no, you are like a true Shamada, just not like one that have been for generations. Our family always says that loyalty and family are the most important above everything else. And you are the first in one in a hundred years to actually do this.”

The one with the thunderous voice stops and looks at Hanzo directly in the eyes. Its mouth does not move as it speaks “you are the first true heir to the Shamada legacy in all of those years, and you will to change it, for better or worse.”

The thunderous one flies up corkscrewing into the sky, but the electric one stops and places its feet on the ground. It looks at Hanzo for a long moment then gestures with its head inviting Hanzo. Hanzo carefully walks up to the beast and places his hand on its side, the feeling of static raises his hair and a slight shock bounces off of the great beast's scales. He grabs onto the snow white main and climbs onto its back.

Hanzo holds onto the dragon’s main with white knuckles at it too corkscrews up into the sky. Even though they are above the clouds the great storm that the dragons showed up in seems to still envelope them.  They fly for what could have been hours or minutes, the thin air cold and harsh, but Hanzo could barely feel it due the heat and energy emanating off of the dragon. The two dragons descend onto a street, it is in the middle of the day and faceless people wonder the sidewalks of the small cul-de-sac.

the dragon lowers itself close enough to the ground so that Hanzo can climb off. He looks at the two and is about to ask them where they are when a green flash slams into the one with the voice like thunder. The other quickly abandons Hanzo to help its sibling fight off the attacker. The attacker is also a dragon, but it is not a cohesive as the other two, its body strikes the ground and seems to eat the energy form the other two. The three fight no one clearly taking advantage over the other. even though the two blue are larger and seem to be able to easily take control of the green one; every time the green one touches one of the blue ones, it becomes stronger and larger. It never solidifies but soon it is larger than the two blue dragons combined, and the two blue dragons are little longer then a car.

The green one smiles knowing that it has won long tongue lolling out of its mouth. The two blue try to flee, soaring into the sky, into the storm they brought with them. The one like thunder trailing slightly behind its sibling, when the green one rushes it and swallows it whole. The one like lighting turns and roars in anger, making a noise like nothing Hanzo had never heard before. Hanzo screams out for it to run away but it cannot hear him. It charges the green dragon and grabs onto its throat, sending both of them tumbling towards the ground. They hit the pavement Hanzo has to cover his ears from the great crash they bring.

They both stay like that broken and bloodied on the ground. Hanzo can’t help but rush to his dragon to try to get it up to flee. It slowly stands wavering one of its horns had broken off from the impact. It looks at Hanzo with sadness and presses its head to Hanzo’s chest, Hanzo wraps his arms around the beast’s mighty jaws. It snaps around and snarls at the green dragon who only smiles at it. The blue dragon launches itself at the green, who swallows it whole.

Then it is only Hanzo and the green dragon. They look at each other neither one wanting to make the first move. Hanzo breaths getting ready for what he knows is inevitable. The green dragon rushes him and swallows him whole.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I REALLY liked how this chapter came out, but that might change in the morning, will probably edit it then. again thanks for all of the kudos and comments, they mean the world to me! they keep me writing every day!  
> EDIT;just cleaned things up a little


	8. a very Shimada Christmas pt2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> this is not how Genji thought his Christmas would go...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> okay, last Christmas chapter (hopefully)

Genji sat in a moth-eaten recliner. The whole house looked like it was moth-eaten, shattered windows, boarded up doors and rat nest furniture. Genji dint care though all he cared about was the syringe he was holding in his hand. The needle shakes violently as he holds it above his arm.

“having trouble Rob?” Joe says while sprawled out one thread-bare couch. Jo was Genji’s ‘friend’ and his supplier. He lay on the couch with his legs hanging off of the armrest. Genji didn’t know how old Joe was or his real name; he looked to be at least in his mid-thirties and was missing a few teeth and those that were still there were yellowed from cigarettes and hard liquor. They had an understanding that they wouldn’t tell each other their real names, when they met they refused to introduce themselves to each other so they each came up with a name for the other.

 Joe was coming out of his current high as Genji was struggling to shoot up. He stumbled over to his bag and grabbed a fresh needle. He walked over to where Genji was sitting and gave a devilish smile. Without warning he jabbed the needle into Genji’s wrecked arm and injected something it to him.

“WHAT THE FUCK!” Genji screamed “THAT HURT YOU BASTARD!”

Joe just started laughing his ass off as Genji sputtered. Joe said through laughing fits “you were taking to long, maken’ me nervous”

As the high set itself in, Genji couldn’t find himself to care anymore he just leaned back into the recliner. Joe put his hand or Genji’s shoulder stopping him from getting too comfortable. Joe rubbed his fingers together motioning as to say where’s my cash. Genji groaned and pulled out his wallet while he was still sober enough to do so. He pulled out a handful of bills not caring how enough to count.

When Genji came to he saw that it was most likely going on two-ish , and joe was no ware to be seen. He ran a hand over his face wiping dried sweat off. The house was quiet except for the howl of wind battering the house. Genji shivered violently and his teeth started chattering, but at the same time he felt like he was on fire. He looked around the living room again and realized that his backpack was gone, he tried to retrace his steps through his slowly clearing mind. He knew that he left it right by his chair, but it was gone. Then the second realization rushed through his mind, his wallet was gone as well. He desperately patted down all of his pockets finding them empty. He tore through the living room, flipping furniture, literally tearing apart the couch cushions. After he realized that the living room didn’t have his stuff, he proceeded to tear apart the rest of the house.

Genji sobbed when he realized that all of his things were gone, stolen. Two thousand dollars, his ID, his fake ID, clothes, phone, everything he had to his name was gone. He fell to his knees and screamed. _how could I have been so stupid_ Genji thought, the voice of Hanzo ringing in his head, _if you keep living like this you are going to die alone in the gutter._ Genji wanted to throw up but the lack of eating anything for two days stopped anything happening  beyond dry heaving.

After who knows how long, Genji staggers through the front door of the house. Headache setting in fast. He pinched the bridge of his nose trying to subside it at least somewhat. He wondered the streets of the small town for hours, stopping by different clubs and drug dens that he and Joe frequented. Joe was no ware to be found. The thought of going to the police crossed Genji’s mind for a split second, but he couldn’t help but laugh at the thought. _Yes officer, my drug dealer stole all of my belongings. What was that, his name? I don’t know, I just called him joe._

Genji stopped and laughed, tears forming in his eyes, from both sadness and the hysterical laughter. Genji didn’t realize that he was standing in the middle of a road way until he felt the pavement underneath him. _When did I lay down?_ He thought as the pain slowly set in. he could hear the distant sound of tires squealing away.

After what felt like hours Genji staggered up, he could feel the blood trickle down his face and leg. The pain was mostly gone by now with endorphins flooding his system. somewhere in his mind he knew that he was in a bad way, seeing double usually isn’t a good thing. He staggered to the sidewalk and leaned against a mailbox. He took a few moments to center himself and started walking down the path.  In the logical part of his brain he knew that he needed help, but going to a stranger’s door was not an option.

He walked for two blocks and found himself at a cul-de-sac filled with middle income homes. His eyes traced the houses and cars in the area when his eyes fell upon a black Humvee. It looked familiar so Genji walked over to the house it was parked at. He glanced at the mailbox, it was a plain black one with a red flag. On the side of it the word Reyes was pained in blue paint, along with one large handprint and another much smaller one that appeared to be of that of a child.

Genji just blinked at the box for a minute letting the pieces slowly fall into place. _Jesse! he’s cool, he’ll let me crash here for a while._ Genji thinks, he limps up to the door and knocks. He hears the rustling of someone moving inside. Jesse opens the door, huge smile on his face, which quickly drops.

“Genji?” Jesse asks

 _well duh,_ Genji tries to say but all that comes out is a pained grunt. Jesse immediately calls out and places his hand on Genji’s shoulder. Genji leans into the touch, and almost falls over. Jesse steadies him. Two people round the corner one of them Genji recognizes as Mr. Reyes but the other he has no idea who she is. The woman starts shouting and there is a rush of movement.

Jesse starts leading Genji into the house. The house is quaint, an open archway leads into what Genji can only assume is the family room. It has a nice sized plasma TV but the Christmas tree caches Genji’s eye, along with the scattered wrapping paper. _is it charismas?_

Genji tries to ask the simple question of whether or not it was the holiday, but all he is able to do is mumble slurred Japanese and English. Jesse is slowly leading him to somewhere in the house when a girl runs by holding a bucket of snow. Genji is more than confused than anything else now, the fog of his mind stopping words making since and from him making since.

Suddenly all Genji feels is cold, not the strange fiery cold that he felt before, but pure unadulterated cold. He tries to fight it, and get out of the cold but strong arms hold him in the bathtub. It’s that woman, she stands above him and is ripping off his shirt. He wants to scream at her but only manages a gurgle. She takes off his shirt and starts poking and prodding his stomach and chest. Genji faintly hears the sound of someone throwing up.

Black dots swarm Genji’s vision and the edges of everything start to become blurry. The woman backs away, and Jesse is standing over him, holding his head out of the water. Genji sighs and leans into the gentle touch, letting the blackness swarm his vision.

* * *

 

Genji is in the street again snow up to his knees, but he feels no cold. Something warm is wrapped around him like a blanket. the green dragon shivers in the snow, electricity sparks off of it, and its body struggles to stay together. It is small no longer then six feet from nose to tail, its body emaciated bones seem to just out from under its skin. It shifts and looks up at Genji, and makes a noise that is somewhere between a dog’s bark and a bird’s chirp. It blinks at and barks again, the noise now sounding more like laughter. The dragon uncoils itself and flies up about ten feet into the air it looks at Genji again and barks, this time it being more of a squeak then a bark.

Suddenly storm clouds role in, lighting streaking through them. Two dragons come flying out at mock speed, snarling and slobbering like rabid wolves. The green dragon barks in fear and tries to fly away, but the blue dragons catch up quickly. One of them tackles it to the ground while the other goes for the green’s throat. They start devouring the green live, the snow becomes stained red with the green dragon’s blood. The two turn around and look at Genji, they both speak at once in a single familiar voice “ _you’re going to die in the gutter”_

Genji screams as they lunge at him, he feels their teeth tear at his flesh. He feels the needle-sharp claws sink into his skin and muscle. All he is able to do is scream in agony as they pull out his organs.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *Saturday morning cartoon announcer voice* will The Degu ever write a chapter where no one cries? will Jesse and Hanzo ever actually interact? Does The Degu actually know where this fic is going? tune in next time on and find out!  
> (the answers are probably not, hopefully, and kind of..)


	9. Second semester

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> hanzo and Jesse are headed towards their second semester, what will they find out during these next few months.

            Hanzo’s heart is in his throat as the plane landed, a familiar airport just outside of his window. It was going on four o’clock in the morning, and Hanzo shivered while looking at the winter wasteland outside. It was still pitch black out and the snow wasn’t falling as much as it was whipping around. The horrible conditions did not make the flight any easer. The horrable turbulence caused one of the flight attendances to fall onto one of the passengers, and Hanzo could hear someone screaming in the rear of the plane.  throughout the last two hours or so of the flight it felt like it was one bump away from falling out of the sky.

            Hanzo’s legs felt like jello as he left the plane, but he was able to make it to baggage claim before almost collapsing. He ended up half sitting, half standing agents a pillar while waiting for his luggage. Once he had his luggage in hand he headed to the pickup/drop-off area. He waited for an hour for the buss to arrive, his phone was long dead and the power outlets were taken by some kid playing on her DS. He was overjoyed when the buss came, relived to get away from the ten-year-old who’s constant pestering and childlike screaming was quickly giving Hanzo a migraine. His heart sank when the girl and her parents bordered the buss with him.

            “hay mister you okay?” the girl asked

            “just dandy” Hanzo says flatly trying his hardest to end the conversation with the girl

            “wait, I know you!” she almost screams “you go to GibraltarHills high! Don’t ya!”

            Hanzo gives the girl a side eye not wanting to confirm or deny the accusation. She then gets up into his face and says, “I go to the junior high across the street, I saw you walking home with that green haired guy every day”

            Hanzo pails at this and is able to stammer out “yes I do, and the ‘green hair guy’ is my brother. Have you seen him since the break?”

            The girl gives Hanzo a quizzical look “no I spent the entire break in Korea with family, but I’ll keep an eye out for him! Nothing gets past Chief detective Hana Song!”

            The hyperactive girl then gives a mock solute and bounds off to who Hanzo assumes are her parents. The bus ride is relatively quiet, half way through Hana finally passed out, sending the whole coach into quiet bliss.

            Someone was shaking Hanzo awake ( _when did I fall asleep?_ ). it’s the coach driver he has an exhausted and somewhat angry look about him.

            “time to get off buddy,” the stranger says. Hanzo drowsily gets off of the bus and grabs his things. Mr. and Mrs. Winston are waiting in the parking lot for him. They sadly smile at him and he waves to them. They do not talk as he loads the car, nor the drive to the house. They stop for breakfast on the way. buying things that were more grease then food. Hanzo’s head and jaw hurt so much that just the thought of chewing nearly has him crying out, he orders a smoothie and the cold helps somewhat with the pain in his head.

            The next few days pass in uncomfortable science. Hanzo struggles changing his inner clock, dozing through daytime hours and sitting awake in the middle of the night. Athena tries and fails to get through Hanzo who just spends his time on his computer, trying to find his brother. Even Winston tries to talk to him with no success.        

            The first day of school comes and Winston drives Hanzo and himself to the school. The small sedan barely fits the two of them and their belongings but they make it work.  The front parking lot was starting to filter in other teachers and early bird students at the early hour.  Class wouldn’t start for another hour, but Winston needed to get to his classroom and make sure that it wasn’t demolished during the break.

            Hanzo decided to stay outside for a while and just watch the cars pass. The morning was calm and cold. it was the nice type of cold, where your breath small clouds and the wind isn’t biting. The kind of cold that makes it pleasant to be inside but nice enough to spend time outside in the packing snow.

            Hanzo couldn’t help but smile when he saw the black Humvee pull into the parking lot. He didn’t know exactly why, but he the main thing he missed (besides Genji) when he went back to japan was the strange cowboy. Hanzo didn’t realize that he was holding his breath until Jesse got out of the car, and he let out a deep breath.

* * *

 

Jesse wasn’t sure that he was ready to go back to school, but the thought of having to repeat his junior year hushed those thoughts. Gabe seemed to be just as apprehensive but didn’t say anything about it. They decided that Jesse would say that he got into a car accident and that’s why he lost his arm and didn’t come to school all of those months. The people that needed to know the truth already knew it, and saying that he lost his arm in a car accident was a lot quicker than saying “oh, this! My psycho dad shot it off, no not the detective dad: my biological dad (ya know, the ex-gang leader). what happened to that guy? Well, my detective dad shot him so many times he needed a closed casket funeral!”

Jesse couldn’t help but let out a nervous chuckle at the thought of the stupid conversation.  His racing thoughts halted when the car did as well, Jesse glanced at Gabe who gave a half smile. They stayed like that in the parking lot for who knows how long, just mentally preparing.

“will you two get over your father-son mushiness, at this rate I'm going to be late for first period!” Sombra nearly yelled from the back. Jesse smiled and said his goodbyes to Sombra and Gabe and headed out of the car.

He felt his heart skip a beat when he saw Hanzo. Hanzo was looking right at him and smiling. He was wearing a grey zip-up jacket and tight-fitting jeans.  Hanzo looked happy but there was an underling sadness and exhaustion to his physique. Jesse walked over and waved, and Hanzo returned the wave.

“hay Han!’” Jesse says.

“hello Jesse” Hanzo responds “how was your winter break?”

“fine, didn’t know your bro was staying though”

Hanzo stops dead in his tracks and asks “you have seen Genji?”

“yea he showed up on our front porch Christmas day. He was lookin’ like he lost a fight with a lawnmower.” Jesse says nonchalantly, then adds  “How do you not know this Han?”

“no one told me.” Jesse could see the color drain from Hanzo’s face as they talked.

“well, someone came and picked him up from the hospital after we dropped him off, figured that it was you or yer dad”

Hanzo places his hands on Jesse’s shoulders. Jesse flinches at the sudden contact but Hanzo doesn’t seem to notice “you have to tell me everything”

“sure partner,” Jesse says trying to stay calm, he could feel Hanzo shaking, and he saw the look of desperation on his face at the same time “don’t know much more than what I already told ya’ but I can fill you in as much as I know”

Hanzo nods queuing up his questions for Jesse when the other interrupts “class is gonna start soon, why don’t we talk later, after school. I know a good barbecue place down the street, it’s a little more private then the middle of the hallway”

Hanzo thinks for a moment and agrees at the same moment that the bell rings. Jesse smiles and shakes Hanzo’s hand than the two head to class.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Actually going to get into the meat and potatoes of the romance here these next few chapters. idk when the next chapter is going to come out but... I'm also working on another fic called "The omnic's Library" with is set in the same universe as this one but is about bastion and the other (human) omnics. I have the first chapter roughed out for that work so keep your eyes open for that as well.  
> don't worry I'm going to keep updating this fic as well but we are nearing the end of what I have planed for this part. I do have a multi chapter epilogue that I am going to wright for this, but it will be a separate work. this part of the not yours universe is only going to be another two or three chapters (max four) so yea, I do have some stuff planed for the future.  
> ps hana is thirteen like som' but appears younger to hanzo due to her "childish tendencies "  
> EDIT: just cleaned things up


	10. Catching up

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jesse and Hanzo catch up, and blow off some steam.

Jesse sat across from Hanzo at the small wooden table. The barbecue place that they went to is only a few blocks away from the school, and it was actually on the way to Hanzo’s house. Hanzo ordered a pulled pork sandwich and Jesse ordered a southwest poutine with beef.

The restaurant only had five tables in the dining area, with some a few standing tables along the wall. It was obvious that this place was made for take-out rather than dinging in, but the ambience and the relief from the blistering cold made it more than inviting. All of the other tables were occupied, and a few people were just standing around either waiting for their meals or staying inside eating. Jesse and Hanzo appeared to be the youngest ones in the cramped restaurant with the other youngest person being the less then thrilled cashier taking orders and barking them back to the kitchen.

“this is what you call private?” Hanzo deadpans.

“well,” Jesse is somewhat embarrassed, this place is usually dead this time of day, with it being too early for dinner but too late for lunch “no one’s here from the school?”

Hanzo grumbles into his sandwich and thinks for a moment, until finally saying “I guess this is as good as a place as any, what do you know?”

“well, like I said Genji came to my house on Christmas, think he got hit by a car” Jesse says. Hanzo winces at the thought “luckily my friend Ana was there, she’s Fareeha’s mom, and she’s a doc’ and a good one at that! She ended taking him to the hospital herself for some reason. though, I thought that my dad called an ambulance. Anyway a few days later I went to go see him, find out how he was doing, but the lady at the counter said that someone in a came and picked him up from the hospital. She said it was a doctor of some sort, couldn’t remember the name, but he seemed to be in good hands”

Hanzo blinked at Jesse, not knowing what to say. Someone had Genji, and even if father were to do such a thing, Hanzo knew that he wouldn’t keep it from him. It meant too much, it was causing Hanzo to be distracted, and Sojiro does not want that. Hanzo just sat and thought for who knows how long, mind racing, trying to bring two thoughts together but none connecting together.

Hanzo grans loudly and dramatically places his face in his hands. One of the ladies standing in line looks over to the two sitting and asks to Jesse in a somewhat hushed tone “is your boyfriend okay?”

“he is not my boyfriend!” Hanzo quite literally hisses at the woman. She reals back and all of the other people in the small restaurant turn their heads to look at the scene. Hanzo immediately feels the blush spread over his face and shoots up from the table. He grabs the rest of his sandwich and throws it in the trash on the way out of the restraint. Jesse apologizes profusely, throws his leftovers in the trash and fallows Hanzo out.

“Han’” Jesse calls out “you okay?”

Hanzo turns on a dime and points at Jesse staring him down

“no, I am not ‘okay’” Hanzo practically yells “I have not been okay since my brother has gone missing, and no one is telling me anything! He could be hurt or dead and no one is going to look for him besides me!”

Hanzo looks like he is about to burst into tears. He is huffing like a racehorse and the few people outside stopped and staired at him, which only put Hanzo on edge more. He glared at Jesse and baired his teeth at the straingers passing. Jesse waited for Hanzo to calm somewhat then walked up to him trying to be as calm as he could be in this situation. Jesse places his hand on Hanzo’s shoulder grounding the other.

“I’ll help” Jesse says without a second thought, and Hanzo just stairs at him caught speechless again “I mean if ya’ want me to, I can. Can’t do much heavy lifting right now, but I know some people that might be able to help. My sis can hack, not that flashy stuff that they do in movies, but the real thing; if somethings on the internet about your bro she can find it. An’ my dad is a detective, he’s pretty busy but I know he’ll be willing to help some”

Hanzo looks at Jesse trying to think of something to say when finally, he says, “yes you can help, but I do not want anyone knowing what is going on without my discretion. do you understand,  this is going to be on a need to know bases”

“sure thing!” Jesse says while looking like a puppy “want to come over this weekend and start? I can give you my address if you want.”

Hanzo nods and pulls out his phone so that Jesse could write down his address on it. They walk the rest of the way to Hanzo’s house, Jesse insisting to walk along with him even though it is the opposite direction to his house. They don’t talk as they walk but it isn’t an uncomfortable silence but a nice warm quiet between friends.

Jesse let out a long whistle as they neared the house and says, “nice place you got here, a regular castle”

Hanzo just stared at Jesse, trying to figure out if he was mocking him or not, then finally says “it is nothing compared to my house in japan.”

Hanzo tried to sound playful while making the remark, but it still came out as somewhat condescending. “it is actually a castle”

Jesse raised an eyebrow now being the one trying to figure out if the other is joking “well maybe I’ll just have to see your ‘castle’ some other time”

Both boys stood there in complete silence for a moment before both of them breaking out in laughter at the horrible innuendo that Jesse accidently made.  They stood there laughing for a good five minutes, both of them dubbing over.

“it wasn’t even that funny” Jesse is able to say between batches of belly chuckles. (guess _when you’re just this tired and stressed out, everything is funny.)_

Once they both regained their composure Hanzo bid Jesse a farewell and went in through the front door, leaving Jesse to walk the mile and a half home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> kind of a short chapter, BUT it is setting up for the next few. also sorry that it took so long for this chapter to come out, had some stuff come up over the past week (good stuff) and haven't found the time to write.  
> keep the comments and kudos coming, they give me (and this series) life! also the first chapter of the Omnic's public library is up, so feel free to go and check that out.


	11. A different type of family

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hanzo learns a lot about Jesse and his family just in a few hours of being at his house.

Jesse dumped his things on the couch as he walked in; he could hear Sombra in her room, and Gabe on his computer. He walked to the master bedroom and knocked on the open door as he entered. Gabe looked disheveled to say the least, he desperately needed to shave, and the dark circles under his eyes made him look like they were bruised. Gabe didn’t seem to hear Jesse as he entered, at least he didn’t acknowledge him. He was on the phone not saying anything, just listening intently. He opened his mouth a few times as if trying to say something, but was apparently cut off every time. Jesse wasn’t able to make out anything that was being said on the other line, but by the looks of it, it was either Ana or Jack braiding him.

“I don’t care if you don’t like it I did it and there is no way of taking it back!” Gabe yelled into his phone before hanging up dramatically. He rested his head in his hand before looking up and shouting “Fucking shit!”

“pops?” Jesse asks tentatively. Gabe turns around in a spit second, he half shouts “what!?”

Jesse flinched back, taking a step out of the door. Gabriel immediately realizing his mistake he jumps up, making Jesse flinch again.

“shit, sorry jess…I didn’t mean…” Gabe says keeping his distance “it’s just work, and Jack is giving me shit again, and Ana isn’t much better…”

Gabe takes a deep breath and continues “I think I'm going to quit the force, I brought up the idea in passing with Jack today… he wasn’t happy to say the least”

“why are you going to quit?” Jesse asks now stepping up to Gabe, concern overtaking the small amount of fear that had hit him just a minute before.

“don’t worry about it jess, I… it’s just that… I made a mistake and I can’t undo it and I can’t stand the feeling of having jack looking over my shoulder anymore.”

Jesse shuffles uncomfortably in the doorway, trying to think of something to say. He hadn’t seen this coming. the force was all Gabe had, he couldn’t comprehend his dad not being in some sort of piece keeping force.

Gabe sighs and sits down at his office chair and holds his head in his hands “I'm sorry Jesse, I’m so so sorry… I shouldn’t have put this on you, you have so much on your plate now and I shouldn’t be adding my shit to it…”

“s’okay dad, I'm glad you told me” Jesse says and smiles nervously “any wise is it okay if I have a friend come over this weekend? I know it’s kind of short notice, but, I already told him it was okay?”

Gabe chuckles slightly and nods “sure, who is it”

“Hanzo, from school. I don’t think you’ve met him yet” Jesse says nonchalantly “he’s Genji’s older brother”

Gabe raises an eyebrow “really, and what are you two going to do during this time?”

Jesse shifts numerously “ya know playing videogames, hanging out that sort of thing, might borrow the car if that’s okay”

“tell you what.” Gabe says while leaning back in his chair “you can have the car if you give me that pack of cigarettes in your pocket”

* * *

 

The weekend arrives and Jesse drives that tank of a car to Hanzo’s house. He honks the horn a few times to get the attrition of the other. Hanzo jogs out of the McMansion, school backpack slung over his shoulder. Hanzo is wearing his winter jacket and slim fitting pants, his hair is up in a lose ponytail but not tied with his usual scarf. He is also glaring at the large SUV boring holes into the chassis.

Just as Hanzo reaches for the handle of the car Jesse presses the horn again, this time making Hanzo literally jump. Jesse is fighting back tears as Hanzo opens the door scolding.

“you should of seen yer face!” Jesse laughs “that was priceless!”

Hanzo can’t help but let the fake anger crack due to Jesse’s boisterous laughter. Hanzo says “you are so rude… you should be ashamed for making a someone jump like that”

Jesse just snickers and starts driving. The two hold pleasant conversation during the fifteen-minute drive, mostly talking about school and some assignments coming up. It was nice for both of them, not having to think about anything in particular. Jesse glances at Hanzo when the topic turns to some of the dating drama at the school.

“is anyone waiting back at home fer ya” Jesse asks nervously.

Hanzo shakes his head and laughs nervously then says “no but I think my father wants me to find someone.  During our holiday party one of our guests made her way up to my room, said that she was a prostitute that my father hired. She wasn’t a prostitute, just one of my father’s business partner’s youngest daughters. She snuck through security, apparently thinking that sleeping with me will force me to marry her.”

Jesse almost drives off the road when he hears this and stammers once he gets back into his lane. “did ya… ya know…”

Hanzo blushes deeply and looks rather uncomfortable “NO I did not! She was just desperate for some sort of attention. I put her to bed on my futon outside of my room. She was mad but she seemed to understand. Her father was ferrous the next morning when I walked her out. he threated to sue but when we both explained what happened he dropped it knowing that he could not win that case.”

“wow and I thought my dating life was complicated” Jesse laughed

“are you and Ms. Amari not doing well?” Hanzo asked innocently.

Jesse let out a bark of a laugh at the thought “no… no were like siblings, her mom looked after me when dad had to work. We were raised side by side, she is my best friend and I wouldn’t have it any other way. Jesus, dating her would be like dating Som’… just ew…”

            “sorry I did not mean to assume, it is just that you two spend so much time together.” Hanzo apologizes profusely blush deepening even more. He glances at Jesse who looks just as flushed as him and Hanzo asks “so are you seeing anyone?”

            “not right now” Jesse shrugs “tried dating a few girls over the years, none of ‘em stuck around. Mostly because of me being stupid and breaking their hearts.  Surprised that any girl in the school will even talk to me during sophomore year, I got blamed for getting a girl pregnant, never talked to her before then. Dad demanded a DNA test, turned out to be one of the teachers. So that was a pretty shitty year, figured that I had enough being ‘heart breaker Jesse’ and hadn’t dated since then. I’ve figured some stuff out since then, why none of those relationships worked.”

            Hanzo looked as if he was going to ask something when the car pulled to a stop. Hanzo gawked at the tiny home before him. It was a single story, with chipping paint and overgrown ferns. The walkway and driveway were shoveled and Christmas lights still hung to the gutters. The house didn’t have a garage, but it did have a protruding part that looked like it was once a garage but where the door would be, is what looks to be a sold, painted, cement wall.   

            The two walk in to the house. The smell of mixed spices and meats hits Hanzo like a ton of bricks. His mouth immediately begins to water at the smell. the house is small to say the least, but cozy; every square inch of wall space seemed to be covered with either a family photo, a child’s drawing, a military honor, and a single framed strait ‘A’ report card. Hanzo couldn’t stop and stare at some of the metals, a Distinguished Service Cross, along with serval ranking badges were hung in one case; while another held multiple police service metals including a purple heart and a hand-written letter from the mayor thanking Gabriel for his service.

            “Gabriel is real sentimental” someone said right next to Hanzo making him jump. It’s a girl, in her early teens. She is wearing about as much makeup as Genji did, and had purple streaks running through her hair. A halfcocked smile crossed her lips as her loudly chewed a mouth full of gum.

            “you’re Hanzo right?” the strange girl asked, “thought you would be taller”

            “yes, but who-” Hanzo stammered

            “I'm Sombra, Jesse’s ‘lil sis’” she used air quotes when saying this “heir of the Shimada empire, that press conference was wild, you looked like you were going to through up during it… say I saw your grades, want me to up your Spanish to an ‘A’”  
            the girl was talking so fast it made Hanzo’s head hurt. Both of their attentions snapped down the hall when Jesse called “Hanzo you all right?”

            Hanzo just looked between Jesse and this ‘Sombra’. Jesse scolded and shouted at Sombra in Spanish, she turned dramatically and shouted back. the two were too busy arguing to see the man walk out of the dining area, he stood a foot taller than Hanzo and serval inches over Jesse.

            “what did I say about cursing in my house?” the man asks.

            “make sure that the guest can’t understand it” Sombra quips back “and he can’t speak Spanish for shit!”

            both Jesse and Sombra burst out laughing at this. the man just pinched the bridge of his nose which turned into a face palm. As the man waked out into the hallway Hanzo could see him better, it was detective Reyes, he was still intimidating, but the frilly ‘kiss the cook’ apron greatly detracted it from the overall frightening demeanor. It diminishes even more when he pulled both of the snickering children up off the ground; one under each arm. He lowered his head and seemed to whisper to the others who couldn’t stop giggling. Hanzo couldn’t believe what he was seeing, this man was completely different from the one he met at the police station. He was relaxed and calm, if not downright happy.

            Detective Reyes looked up and asks “are tacos okay with you Hanzo? If not, we have some frozen meals that I can heat up”

            Hanzo just blinks trying to think of something to say, “yes that sounds find Mr. Reyes”

            “Hanzo were all friends here, call me Gabe!” detective Reyes says with a smile “a glad to hear it it’s my abuela’s recipe. they will be done in an hour, make yourself comfortable. You can throw your stuff in Jesse’s room. Sombra, don’t bother them”

            Sombra looked up at Mr. Reyes and stuck her tongue out at him. Then ran off to presumably her room.  Jesse lead Hanzo down the hall to the right, just off the entrance to the kitchen. As they walked he pointed to the four different doors and said “first door on the left is the bathroom, second door is Gabe’s bedroom. First door on the right is Som’s room and this is my room”

            The door had a single horseshoe hung above the frame. The door was identical from the others besides looking slightly newer, but had the telltale sings of constant use. Jesse’s room was small, barely enough room to fit the bed and desk. The desk was on the far side of the room had piles of unfinished homework along with a small TV on the back edge.  Closer is the bed half a dozen missed matched pillows lay on it along with a well-loved comforter. On the (white? Yellow?) walls hung movie posters and band paraphernalia. Overall the room was cluttered but not dirty, it just didn’t have enough space for all of his things apparently.

            “ya can throw your things over there” Jesse sais gesturing to the corner of the room “pops said that you can sleep on the couch in the family room if ya want. I can dig out the air mattress if that sound better to ya though.”

            Hanzo just stared at Jesse, he felt over whelmed. “I uh… do not care?”

            Jesse nodded and smiled; something about that smile made Hanzo’s heart flutter, Hanzo didn’t know why all of his insides felt like they did a backflip as Jesse brushed passed him, but they did nonetheless. The two of them talked, again about nothing in particular, until they were called for dinner.

            A woman sat at the table. she was wearing a royal blue hijab, and a matching dress. He had a tattoo under her left eye. She was sitting calmly and sipping on a cup of tea. No one seemed to notice her as the rest of the family set the table and washed up for dinner. Hanzo didn’t realize that he was staring until she opened her tattooed eye and he found himself jumping back. The strange women just smiled and gave a slight chuckle.

            “and who might you be?” the woman asked. Hanzo felt like that this woman was staring straight through him; looking into his soul judging his heart agents the wait of a feather. He was able to stammer out “Shimada, Shimada Hanzo. And your name miss…”

            “Ana Amari” she says coolly “it is nice to finally meet you Shimada-san. My daughter and Jesse have told me about you.”

            At this it clicked in Hanzo’s head “oh! You must be Fareeha's mother then. Is she here?”

            “no, she has Lacrosse practice today. Her father insist that she plays” at the mention of Fareeha’s father Ana makes a face like she just bit into a lemon “anywise, I am here to talk and play Cribbage with Gabriel”

            with this Jesse pipes, up “you’re doing old people stuff!”

            “I am an old person!” Ana quips back “and you need to respect your elders!”

            Jesse and Gabe laugh at this; they are both holding packed plates of food and trying to tiptoe around the chair that Ana is sitting in. when they place the plates Hanzo can’t help but drool, the plates are covered with filled tacos, filled with spiced beef. A bowl of fresh pico di gallo and another one of roasted corn were the only things that came with the feast of beef.  Sombra seemed to appear out of nowhere holding a bottle of hot Sause and grinning devilishly.

            With everyone here they sat down and dug in. the meal was filling to say the least; the savory meats had just enough spice for the flavor to stay in Hanzo’s mouth for hours to come (in a good way). And even though the tomatoes were almost all water the pico was to die for. After everything everyone sat back in their chare rubbing their happy bellies.

            Gabriel stands and stars picking up; Jesse and Sombra quickly stand and start helping him clean up. Gabe says something in Spanish, whatever he says it makes Jesse smile wildly and Sombra lets out a long wine.

“you better listen to your father Sombra” Ana says in a motherly tone “he is right, Jesse has a guest, so you can clean up yourself.”

            Jesse then says something in nether Spanish or English (how many languages does this guy know?) and Ana ever so slightly blushes. She says something back in the same language then Jesse smiles back. Jesse walks over to the table finally speaking English and sais “come on, we can start working now.”

            As they got to Jesse’s room Hanzo couldn’t help but ask “what was that luggage you were speaking, not the Spanish, the other one?”  
            “oh!” Jesse scratches the back of his neck nervously “it was Arabic, don’ know how to read or write it but I can speak it pretty good… uh, like I said Ana was like a mother to me, she raised me just as much as Gabe did, an’ I guess I picked up on some of it when I was little.”  
            Hanzo notted trying to understand everything he found out about Jesse over the last few hours. He mentally went through the list _okay so he speaks Spanish,_ _Arabic, and English fluently. He was known as a playboy until he was blamed for getting a girl pregnant. Ana is like a mother to him, and raised him along with her own daughter. He is not seeing anyone currently, and is now known as a generally nice guy in the school. Okay, everything covered? I think so? Okay._

            “Ready to start looking for Genji?” Jesse asks breaking Hanzo out of his thoughts

            “yes” is all Hanzo says before getting to work

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry it took so long to get this chapter out, like I said before, I'm going through a lot of personal stuff currently and this got put on the back burner. I'm hoping that I'll be able to get the rest of this arc done before I leave for collage, but no promises. thanks so much for the support of this series, it really helps keep me writing. again I appogise for the delay but I think that the next chapter should be out by Wednesday!


	12. Guilt

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hanzo and Jesse start looking for Genji and without any luck they find themselves at a turning point.

Hours pass, and the constant clicking of the two keyboards is starting to give Hanzo a headache. He looks at the alarm clock by Jesse’s be and it reads “12:43am”. Hanzo sighs and puts down his computer. Jesse glances over and gives a small smile before closing down his laptop.

“no luck?” Jesse asks

“no…” Hanzo replies “it is like he has just fell off the face of the earth”

Jesse nods furrowing his brow slightly. He walks out of the room leaving Hanzo in the eerie quiet of being in someone else’s house without anyone around.  Not three minutes pass before Jesse comes in carrying a pack of Oreos and leading Sombra behind him. She is wearing a Metallica t-shirt and purple pajama pants with dogs on them. her hair is loose and wild and an overall look of annoyance is about her. She sits down next to Hanzo and grabs his computer right out of his lap without a word.

“what do you want me to find?” she asks flatly “and it better be good. I was in the middle of something when I was so rudely intruded on.”

Hanzo looks up at Jesse speechless “I told you that I needed to give you permission add people to this.”

“haven’t told her anything” Jesse says crossing his arms “and were not having any luck.”

“what make you think that she can help us?” Hanzo hisses “she is just a child”

“yea and you’re just a teenager.” Sombra snaps back “if you don’t want me to help let me go back to what I was doing”

Jesse steps forward “I’ve seen her work, if something is on the internet or connected to the internet she can find it, and she’s good at keeping secrets too. Please Hanzo let her help.”  
 Hanzo glares at Jesse then turns his attrition to Sombra and finally sighs and says “my brother is missing, and I cannot find him any ware. The last time I saw him was just before Christmas break”

“I already knew your bro was missing.” Sombra states with a slightly confused look “my best friend told me. Hana S. said she met you on the buss coming from the international terminal and you told her about your missing bro. nearly everyone in our school knows about it, no one cares though, it doesn’t affect our school so it’s nothing more than rumor fuel.”

Hanzo blinked at Sombra not knowing what to say; everyone at the junior high knew about Genji and it felt like a kick in the gut.  At the same time, it was a strange relief knowing that there were some other people looking out for Genji.

“so, will you help us?”  Hanzo asks. Sombra looks up at Jesse who is looking at her with the biggest puppy dog eyes that Hanzo had ever seen. She sighed and pulled out a flash drive out of her pocket then plugged it into Hanzo’s computer. Jesse thrusted his hands into the air at this and Hanzo couldn’t help but smile slightly.

It was going to be a long night.

* * *

 

Jesse stirred first blinking the sleep out of his eyes. He didn’t know what time it was when he woke but by the look of the sun shining through the drapes it was probably close noon. There was a strange crock in his neck from sleeping without any of his pillows or blankets and by the look of it Sombra stole them to make an impromptu bed of her own. At first Jesse was supersized that he wasn’t chilled due to the lack of blankets but he quickly realized why he wasn’t. Hanzo was curled next to him, not spooning or anything like that, but was clinging onto his good arm for dear life.  Hanzo’s hair was tussled and covered part of his face which was contented and peaceful. The slight movements of his eyelashes and his steady breathing being the only things that let him know that the other was in a deep sleep. It took Jesse’s breath away.

 Jesse laid there for he didn’t know how long just staring at the beautiful sight before him. Thinking about how he would love to see this sight every time he woke up.  He smiled but it quickly diminished when his stomach let him know what time it was. Jesse was successful in maneuvering his arm out of Hanzo’s grasp without waking him.

 Jesse made his way to the kitchen finding Gabe typing furiously at his work computer. He didn’t say anything as Jesse pored himself a bowl of dry cereal. Jesse sat across form Gabe and munched in the quiet. When Gabe finally looked up he smiled slightly, acknowledging Jesse, before getting back to work. After another minute or two Gabe finished up his work and put away the computer, he looked back as Jesse, looking like he wanted to say something.

“I'm guessing you stayed up pretty late?” Gabe asked with a sly smile.

“yea” Jesse says simply, hoping to leave the conversation at that.  After Jesse finished his impromptu brunch he looked up at Gabe, trying to find the right words to say. “hay dad, I need to tell you something.”

Gabe perked up at this breaking out of whatever daydream he was currently in “sure thing Jesse, whatever you want”

Jesse swallowed hard, trying to get his thoughts in line before finally spitting out “I'm gay”

Gabe blinked for a moment not conveying any emotion beyond his usual neutral expression. Jesse didn’t know what to expect, but nothing was not one of his imagined outcomes. He fidgeted with the drawstrings on his pants and felt the ach of his missing limb overcome him slightly.

“okay” Gabe finally says, “thank you for telling me, and trusting me enough to know this, and I love you so much”

“you’re not mad?” Jesse couldn’t help but ask

Gabe scoffed and rubbed the back of his neck “no Jesse I'm not mad… It’s just that were so much alike. Uh… let me tell you something; when I was in the military with Jack we had a thing. We both thought it was serious and we moved out here with you hoping to start a family. I'm suspired you didn’t remember the three of us staying here together.”

Jesse just stared at Gabe, processing this information. He remembered Jack being around more when they first moved here, but he always thought it was them just being friends.  He searched his mind trying to think of something but all he came up with was a vague memory of them yelling at each other one day then hiding in his closet because someone through something.

“when he got promoted over me he changed, wasn’t my Jack anymore” Gabe says “we both said some things we both regret, and did things that no one should go through with their partner.  We cheated and lied, and we hated each other because of it, couldn’t barely look at each other at work by the end of it. He moved out after a year of living together, damn, he got promoted quick, then he became chief not too long afterwards.”

It made a lot of sense the seething hatred between the two but the willingness to stay close even after everything.  They lived together and were planning on raising him of all things. 

“so, I guess being gay runs in the family” Gabe jokes. Jesse lets out a half-hearted chuckle at this, a great deal of wait just got lifted off his shoulders.

“So, Shimada boy?” Gabe half asks half states. Jesse just nods slightly, then Gabe continues “can’t say I like the kid, he has some pretty big skeletons in his closet and I don’t like the family. But that is just my dad instinct kicking in have to protect my little boy.”

Jesse laughs at this then stands to put away his dishes. Gabe takes this time to embrace him holding his son tight “I'm really glad that you wanted me to know this, and I want you to know that this will change nothing between you and me”

By the time Jesse finished up cleaning his things Hanzo and Sombra had joined them in the kitchen. They had their own makeshift brunches and chatted quietly. Gabe stands and gets the attention of everyone.

“sorry to break up the party but Jesse has physical therapy in an hour and we need to take Hanzo home” Gabe says

 “sorry Hanzo but we’ll need to conclude this another time” Sombra says with a sly smile.

“can we do this again next week?” Hanzo asks earnestly.

Jesse is about to say yes when he remembers what is happening next week “can’t next week, gonna be in Cincinnati.”

Hanzo gives a questioning look. Jesse answers the unasked question “gettin’ a new arm form Vishkar Inc. probably will be out of commission for a month or so, but we can pick up right where we left off if ya’d like”

Hanzo just looked at Jesse, slightly shocked and some anger bleeding over.  He suddenly stands and slams his hands on the table “what do you mean a month, Genji has been missing for almost two now! And we are still no closer than before!  Apparently, everyone knows about it and still no knows where he is after all of this! I cannot believe you all, you are treating this like some type of game, but he is missing and no one cares besides me!”

“Han’ I never said that” Jesse tries to calm Hanzo down some “he was a friend, and I would had been on the street all winter break if I knew he was missing.  An’ I'm doing everything I can now to help. Please understand that I can’t change this operation, someone has already payed for it an’ this is going to be life changing for me.”

Hanzo just stands scowling eyes locked on Jesse then dart to the other people in the room. Gabriel just stands holding a can of soda looking ready to pounce and Sombra somehow looks both shocked and underwhelmed at the same time.  Hanzo takes a moment to compose himself as the room is filled with uncomfortable science. He storms out of the room and grabs his things. Gabriel just looks at him as Hanzo stands by the door, waiting for someone to get the keys to the car.

 Gabriel finally sighs and relents, grabbing his keys. The two head out to the SUV without a word. Jesse doesn’t say goodbye as the two head out he is still too shocked at the whole situation to say anything.  A spear of guilt seems to strike him through the heart as Hanzo walks through the door.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hay I kept my promise about it being out by Wednesday!


	13. Something New

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> pounding fists on table* GAY, GAY, GAY, GAY, GAY, GAY, GAY!

Hanzo didn’t see Jesse much after their fight.  Their relationship, what little they had, was next to ruined. But it didn’t matter much, because Just like Mr. Reyes said Jesse was gone from school for about two weeks due to his surgery and new prosthetic.

 the prosthetic was impressive to say the least, with the glances that Hanzo was able to grab. At a glance, it looked like an actual arm made of skin and bone; it had some type of silicone covering that made it almost flesh like. But if you stared at it for a little too long it slowly creped down into the uncanny valley; it was a little too shiny, it didn’t have any actual hair on it (instead it was painted on), the joints did not quite move at the right pace or in the right way, it was strange and Hanzo couldn’t help but stare at any point time he was able to. 

Hanzo felt more and more alone, and felt like he alienated the whole school, which wasn’t far from the truth.  No one wanted to talk to him or even be around him in any way. He told himself he didn’t mind but there were still pangs of loneliness.  It wasn’t that Hanzo wanted people to avoid him at all costs but he was short tempered and just angry all of the time; making it unpleasant for people to be around him. Athena and Winston were still as nice as ever but even their patience was starting to wear thin. Jesse tried to reach out but Hanzo did not want any of it, he did not deserve Jesse’s kindness after what he did to him. Jesse said that he forgave Hanzo’s outburst but Hanzo did not believe him in the slightest; people do not just forgive something like that, Hanzo knew that Jesse would want something from him in return.

Before Hanzo knew it was April and it was passing quickly.  Hanzo was laying on his bed half listening to a soap opera playing on his phone. He sighed, frustrated and tired, it had been quit a while since he spent that night with Jesse and the two had not had an actual conversation since then. There was a nervous tension between the two since that day, and neither one wanted to confront it.

Hanzo glanced at his phone when he heard it buzz under the argument between two characters arguing about who’s child belonged to whom.  He didn’t recognize the number at first glance, and figured it was probably a wrong number at that. 

 **Unknown number:** Hay Han I'm wondering if youd like to talk?

Hanzo just looked at the message, confused. He quickly texted back wanting to get back to his skulking and soaps.

 **H:** I am sorry but I think you might have the wrong number, this is Shimada, Hanzo not this ‘Han’. I apologize for any inconvenience

 **Unknown number:** lol its Jesse ya know the cowboy from school. sorry for confusing you with calling you Han, its easer it just text that then spelling out your whole name

Hanzo blinked at the message. Jesse, of course it was him, who else would it be. Hanzo was tempted to just end the conversation their but decided that Jesse would not give up. He sighed and texted back.

 **H:** look Jesse, I mean no harm by it but if you do not have any information about my brother I am not interested in whatever you have to say.

 **J:** oh… I just wanted to apologize for being kind of an ass the past few months, I'm going through some stuff and I kind of took it out on you. I like you as a friend and I don’t want you thinking that I'm just gonna leave you alone.

 **H:** I accept your apology and I may say the same to you. I just wanted to find my brother and I took my frustration out on you, that was inappropriate and unfair of me.

  **J:** well I was also thinking that maybe you’d like to come to a little get together that me and some of my friends are having at Free’s house. Were gonna go swimming and stuff like that. Probably have a bonfire too.

Hanzo thought for a minute, the thought of leaving the house was appealing but Mr. Reyes warning still loomed over his head. It was on the way home from that night, Reyes was deathly quiet on the drive home. It was just Hanzo and him in the large car in uncomfortable silence. Hanzo immediately noticed the hidden guns in the car with the two assault shotguns under the back seat as well as the hand gun and army issue knife hidden under the driver side dash board. And these were just the one’s he could see.

            Reyes drove home with white knuckled grip on the steering wheel. It felt all too familiar but it was strange all at the same time. Mr. Reyes was a lot like his own father yet completely different at the same time, he half expected as they were driving for Genji to throw up in the back seat. But this wasn’t a Lexus and seething hatred was aimed towards him rather than the person in the back. when they parked at the house Hanzo shifted to grab his things from the back seat but Gabriel grabbed his arm hard, not enough to hurt but enough to get his attention fully.

            “I do not want you talking to me son again, do you understand Shimada.” It was more of a statement then a question, and the fire behind Gabriel’s eyes made Hanzo’s blood run cold. He let go of Hanzo’s arm but continued talking “your brother is most likely dead, I have dealt with cases like this for years and I know how they turn out.  Ninety nine percent of the time people with addiction like your brother are found dead on the streets in no time. And don’t thick of that one percent, even they're fucked up beyond repair. So, stop looking, Genji is dead.”

            Hanzo was speechless, he did not expect this. He expected to be yelled at but not to be told to stop looking for his brother; not form this man who seemed so family oriented. He also did not see Reyes banning Hanzo from Jesse.

            “now get out of my car” Reyes said flatly.

            Hanzo blinked out of his daydream of that day when his phone buzzed again.  
            **J:** you still there?

            **H:** yes, I am, I was caught in thought. And I am farad that Mr. Reyes banned me from interacting with you.

            It took some time for Jesse to respond. The symbol that told Hanzo that the other was typing kept swirling and blinking out then coming back again. After what seemed like an eternity, but in all reality, was at most five minutes, Jesse texted back.

            **J:** well I want to hang out with you

            Hanzo jut stared at his phone for a while not quite knowing what to say; he did not want to anger Mr. Reyes more then he already has but truthfully, he also wanted to be around Jesse.  He took a deep breath and texted back.

            **H:** okay so where are we going to meet up?

* * *

 

            The next few days passed quickly and Hanzo found himself excited, but he kept the feeling heavily guarded, he did not want to ruin this opportunely. The large group this was a tradition of theirs to go to the Amari homestead and go swimming together; to celebrate the start of spring.  The group was going to consist of Lena, Emely, Fareeha, Sombra, Hana song, someone by the name of Lucio and a rather flamboyant boy with a penchant for purple named Shaun.  

            When the day came Hanzo wore his swim trunks with a tight-fitting t-shirt. The trunks were from Walmart because Hanzo did not have the foresight to pack ‘such a frivols item’. They were his favorite shade of blue with white stitching. Emely’s mom came and pick up Hanzo as a carpool to the outskirts of the small city.  Hanzo sat shotgun due to the fact that the two other girls are nearly inspirable (apparently, they have always been like this).

            It was already a little past noon by they made their way up the gravel driveway. The home was a lovely ranch stile house but had the coloring and decoration of the Amari’s Egyptian heritage.

            The smell of the grill caught Hanzo as soon as he exited the minivan. A huge man was standing over the small charcoal grill. Hanzo had not seen the man before and he would know if he did. The man had long hair (still shorter than Hanzo’s) and a large scar running down his face and the eye that the scar ran over was milky white.  Hanzo couldn’t hear the conversation between the strange man and Ms. Amari but by the look of flush on his face and the way that Ana was holding on to his arm it did not take much imagination to figure out what they might be talking about.

            Sombra and her friends were on the porch close to the grill; while the older kids were in the garage playing some sort of card game. Lana and Emely ran to the garage while Hanzo lingered for a moment, gathering the energy to socialize. Then Jesse looked over and smiled. Hanzo’s heart all but did a back flip when he saw it. It was a pure honest-to-goodness smile, not fake or forced, it was like Jesse was actually happy to see him.  Hanzo barely smiled back, and gave a small wave; when he did this the other turned and looked at what Jesse was looking at. Hanzo felt himself seize up with all of these eyes on him, even though he has been in front of crowds of gangsters and fortune five hundred companies this felt different. These people he wanted to impress.

            Jesse stood as Hanzo waked over and smiled even more. He was wearing his prosthetic but it did not have the sicone 'glove' covering over it. Instead the arm looked, for lack of a batter term, like the one from the second Terminator . It was creepy but somehow less so than when the silicone covering was on it; now instead of having a sack of uncanny valley on his arm it just looked like a prop from a movie or something along those lines. Again, Hanzo couldn’t help but stare at the missing limb, but this time rather than disgust it was more intrigue and crusty.

            “we just started this game, I can deal you in if you want!” Shaun shouts “this game is the best!”

            Hanzo stutters for a moment getting his thoughts in line

“s-sure” he’s finally able to sputter out

* * *

 

“Curse! Chicken on Your Head” the card that Hanzo just drew stated. It had a cartoon drawing of a person in robes with a chicken on his head. As Hanzo laid down the new curse the rest of the table erupted in laughter.  The table calmed down as Ana rounded the corner carrying a platter of grilled meats and veggies.

“you’re getting away easy” said Fareeha “that card is the worst”

Hanzo nervously laughed at the comment but through the whole game the rest of the table was basely playing for him. The food was a nice distraction and the younger kids ran into the garage as soon as it was mentioned. Hana seemed to not notice him but the thought of her breaking his worst kept secrets in front of even more people made Hanzo’s heart rate quicken.

The group for teen polished off about twenty pounds of food by the time it was all said and done. Platters and paper plates were strewn through the single bay garage.  Ana and the other man (Hanzo now knew that his name is Reinhardt) joined them the others in the garage but kept to themselves.  Hanzo did not know Ana that much but the brief conversations that he had during his sleep over and the few quips that she added to the conversations today, he found himself liking her more and more.

After lunch was cleaned up the some of the girls headed to the house to change while the guys and the other girls that wore their swimsuits made their way to the large pond. The pond was well kept, it didn’t have any agley or anything like that, and Fareeha reassured the group that it didn’t have any leeches it. It still creeped Hanzo out somewhat, the thought of swimming in something that looked like a dark roast coffee and that he couldn’t see the bottom made him slightly nervures. He always told himself that he wasn’t afraid of the water, but he always swam in pools and turquoise saunas; not god-knows-how-deep with god-knows-what in it water.

There was a small dock that a few people spirited and jumped off of, while others slowly waited into the chilly water. Hanzo deiced to wade in as well. The water was frigid, still not completely rid of winter’s chill, but not completely unpleasant. The thing that was completely unpleasant was that about ten feet off of the gravel beech the bottom of the pond turned to sludge.  It felt as if he was standing in three-inch-deep pudding that smelled of rotten fish and other refuse that collects in ponds.

  
Hanzo _yelped_ when he felt something brush agents him and even though it was just Lena trying to scare him; Hanzo had enough. He stormed out of the pond flushed and somewhat embarrassed but mostly relieved that he was out of the murky water. When Hanzo looked at the bank he found Jesse sprawled out on a large beach towel the sun glinted off of him, and made him look like he was glowing in the midday sun. He looked slightly sad, with his brow slightly furrowed and the slightest frown across his lips. He wasn’t wearing his prosthetic, instead a rubber slip protected the ports and electronics that connected the inner workings of the high-tech limb.

Jesse was broken out of whatever thoughts he was in when Hanzo walked over, lower half still wet. He smiled slightly but it didn’t reach his eyes. He scooted over and patted the open towel next to him. Hanzo obliged and sat down.

“don’t much like the water?” Jesse half asked half stated. Hanzo shakes his head, the somewhat damp ends sticking to his face.

“no, I-I fell into our koi pond when I was a child, my head did not even go under, but the way my mother fussed over me I thought I was dying. So, I do not like being in the water” Hanzo says not knowing what prompted the story, as he made himself comfortable he added “I know it is foolish, but I am terrified of swimming especially in water I cannot see the bottom of”

Jesse listened quietly “I understand, I'm terrified of thunder. I'm kind of like of dog in a way thunder fireworks, someone shutting the door too hard had me under the bed.”

At this Hanzo realized just how mature Jesse was. His eyes look to be those of an old man. even through his strange idioms and sayings he listened, and spoke like a man many time his own age. Not like Hanzo’s forced maturity but something true to his demeanor, like someone who has not had a true childhood. Even through all of his happy-go lucky-demeanor there was always an underlying sadness.

It was pleasant sitting next to Jesse, they didn’t talk much as the other people splashed in the murky pond. They were mere inches apart Hanzo could feel the constant heat of Jesse the furnace. He felt the hair of his arm brush agents Jesse’s own. The others shouted and played in the water, Jesse periodically quipped and taunted the others in swimming, but mostly stayed quiet.

Hanzo nearly jumped when Jesse placed his hand on his own. neither said anything and Hanzo didn’t move his hand away nor did Jesse. They sat for a minute both not knowing quite what to do. Hanzo swallowed hard and shifted his hand slightly so that their finger intertwined. he could feel Jesse relax slightly. They again stayed like that for a while neither one moving closer or farther from each other both enjoying the simple contact of their hands. A slight wind blew through the homestead, not enough to chill even slightly but it was enough to draw goose bumps over Hanzo’s skin.  Hanzo used this simple thing as a mental excuse to close the gap between the two of them. Jesse reciprocated the action by just ever so slightly leaning into Hanzo’s body.

Hanzo sighed happily, even through everything that is going on right now he found himself happy for the first time in a long time.  It was truly nice

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry it took to get this chapter out, were in the home stretch... but I'm starting college soon and moving into the dorm tomorrow (today?) (its 12 ish). so idk if and when the last chapter and epilogue will be coming out. that you so much for the continuing support and comments, they really mean the world to me! also there are two Easter eggs that I wonder if you see them in this chapter.  
> EDIT: just cleaned things up some  
> EDIT: I have no idea what happened with that repeating text thing but I think I fixted it let me know if there is some that I messed


	14. goodbyes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Don't you, forget about me  
> Don't, don't, don't, don't  
> Don't you, forget about me

“so, who do you think would win; a, cowboy or a ninja” Jesse says while giggling uncontrollably “I mean this is a real idea that I'm having, I know cowboys like the back of my hand, and you’re practically a ninja now so what two people would be better arguing about it.”

“you are insufferable,” Hanzo says trying to hide his smile “I am not a ninja if anything I am a samurai… and they would most defiantly win against your cowboy”     

The two boys were laying out on the grass in the front of the school, letting the mid-morning sun warm their bodies. It was lunch and the two had decided to both pack their lunch so that they could enjoy some alone time during school. They weren’t doing anything beyond just enjoying each other’s company and quizzing each other on useless factoids. 

They were laying under one of the huge oak trees that dotted the front lawn of the school. Their lunches were unpacked, empty packages and apple cores dotted the area around the lounging boys. Jesse was leaned up agents the tree and Hanzo was using his lap as a pillow. Jesse was absent-mindedly running his hands through Hanzo’s hair as they talked, and Hanzo was Pratley purring at the touch.

            “well I think cowboys would have the upper hand, they have guns and all. Shoot them down before those samurai ever saw it commin’” Jesse says defiantly

            “no, they would not have the advantage at distance, maybe at medium range but not that far” Hanzo retorted “samurai have longbows and they are much more reliable at distance then your early six-shooter. They are practical … what’s the word…”

            Hanzo furrowed his brow trying to think of the word in English.  Jesse stopped running his fingers through Hanzo’s lushes locks and Hanzo could feel the other tense slightly. Hanzo looked up at Jesse wondering what had happened. Jesse was looking out into space lip absentmindedly chewing on his lip. Hanzo sits up and lays his hand on Jesse’s trying to get him out of his stupor.

            “I'm gonna miss this…” Jesse says little more than a whisper.

            Hanzo knew what the other was talking about. They both avoided talking about the approaching year end, and how it was only two weeks until Hanzo was going to leave for Japan.  They both thought about it constantly but neither wanted to acknowledge it.

“so will I,” Hanzo says pulling closer to Jesse, who was now blinking back into reality. Hanzo laid his head on Jesse’s shoulder running his thumb over the other’s knuckles. Jesse shifts slightly so now he is looking at Hanzo dead on; he frees his good hand and holds Hanzo’s cheek. A blush quickly spreads over Hanzo’s face, now seeming to realize how intimate they were being out in public.

“what are you doing?”  Hanzo says, trying to pull away.

 Jesse holds strong keeping Hanzo in his grasp “just tryin’ to memorize yer pretty face”

Hanzo fully pushes away flustered and sputtering, not knowing what to feel. Jesse blinks again just now realizing what he had said.

“h- Han’ I- I dint mean- Shit!” Jesse recoils shifting back so that they had some distance between each other. Neither boy knew what they were doing and the feelings that they had been experiencing recently confused and scared them. Hanzo looked back at Jesse searching for something trying to think of the right words and failing.

They sat in awkward silence for what seemed like an eternity. When the salience was finally broken it wasn’t from either finding their words; it was the loud ringing of the bell.

Jesse stands up with a sigh then lends a hand to Hanzo who takes it graciously. As they start back to the school Hanzo catches some movement out of the corner of his eye. It’s a person across the street, Hanzo couldn’t make out any features beyond the stranger being pushed in a wheelchair by a tall blond woman. Something digs into Hanzo’s stomach as he looks.

“ya’ coming?” Jesse asks holding the door open. Hanzo nods and heads in.

the next week passes quickly and the hovering deadline hovers over their heads. Hanzo re-ups his search for his brother. He ends up just walking around town aimlessly looking for that green hair. He’s considered putting up posters and handing out flyers, but brushes the thoughts out of his mind, he didn’t need more people to know that Genji was missing.

It was Saturday, exactly a week until Hanzo would leave for Japan, and Hanzo was in the debunked shopping district of the town. It looked like one of those ghost towns in those movies that Jesse made him watch. Empty storefronts, and vacant apartment buildings. Gang tags covered the brick walls and boarded windows. It looks like at one point it might have been pleasant, but now it was abandoned and desolate. Even though it was four in the afternoon the sidewalks were empty. the street that ran through the empty shops still had occasional traffic which Hanzo was grateful for.

As Hanzo walked something nagged at the back of his mind, his gut twisted and the hairs on the back of his neck stood on end. He glanced around casually trying not to let whoever know he was on to them. glancing from side to side he saw nothing but then he heard something behind him.

Hanzo whipped around reading himself for a fight but instead found someone in a wheelchair of all things.   Hanzo looked at them, they were warring a dark hoodie even though it was in the mid-sixties that day. They stranger had bandages wrapped around his face hiding most of his features, the little that showed was there eyes which were bloodshot and stained. Their body did not look much better, with Large, uncomfortable looking, braces wrapped their legs and even a few around their arms and hands. Hanzo just starred at the other person, who did not move even slightly.

“hello.” Hanzo says nervously “can I help you?”

“lee!” a voice shouts out as Hanzo and the stranger have a stare down. The person jogs up to the two. It’s a tall woman wearing a doctor’s lab coat. Her frizzy blond hair was held in a messy ponytail that had a chewed pensile poking out of it. She had deep dark circles under her eyes and an overall exasperated look to her

            “damn it lee, you can’t do that!” she half shouted half sighed.  The woman started fussing over the person Hanzo now knows as ‘lee’, as she checks over him she mutters to herself. Hanzo clears his throat and says, “is there anything I can do to help”

The woman swivels around on her heel, faster than Hanzo expected, and says “no… no… he didn’t bother you by any chance?”

“no, just startled me” Hanzo answers

“yea he’s a sneaky fella,” the woman says, then mutters to herself again “have to change the locks again”

Hanzo give her a quizzical look, she seems to notice and continues “its okay, he doesn’t understand”

A part of Hanzo wanted to press but he knew better than to ask strainers about things like that. As Hanzo bid the strainers farewell something eight at the back of his mind but he couldn’t quite place it.

At last, the day that Hanzo was dreading came. It was early Saturday morning; the sun was just peeking over the horizon and the chill of the early morning air made Hanzo’s bones ache.  He was standing outside waiting for Winston to finish up whatever he was doing. Athena sat in the car organizing paperwork and flight information.

The chill of the air helped numb Hanzo’s nerves, and settle the pit in his stomach.  He tried desperately not to think about how he failed everything he came back to do; his grades dumped over the past few months, he lost weight and muscle mass for worrying, and he still didn’t find Genji.  He failed his father, he failed himself, he failed Genji, and Jesse. Hanzo suppressed a sob at the thought of not seeing his friend again. Even though everything and all the shit that he had been through the past few months, he found himself happier then he had been in a long time. he knew that father would disapprove of his relationship, whatever it was, that he would frown upon Hanzo having a friend of such low class. let alone whatever their relationship actually was.

Hanzo headed for the car when he saw Winston leave the house. He stopped dead in his tracks when he heard someone call his name. he turned around to see Jesse sprinting down the sidewalk, hand holding his hat on his head the other waving wildly. Hanzo let a smile creep across his face and couldn’t stop his body from running towards Jesse.

When the two met on the sidewalk, Jesse lifted Hanzo off of the ground and spun twice. Hanzo buried his face into Jesse’s neck, taking in his sent and wiping off his tears. Jesse set him down, both teens huffed and sputtered trying to catch their breath.

“you wouldn’t go without lettin’ me say goodbye now?” Jesse says between gasps of air.

“we said farewell yesterday,” Hanzo remarked “though I cannot say I am disappointed”                             

they stood there for a moment just looking at each other, then Jesse sighs and grabs Hanzo’s hand with his good one. Hanzo leans into the touch and looks into Jesse’s eyes. Jesse lets go of Hanzo’s hand and trails his own up the other’s body until he is cupping Hanzo cheek.

            “let me do this or I’ll regret it for the rest of my life,” Jesse says barely above a whisper

            “I was going to say the same thing,” Hanzo says as they lean into each other. The kiss was passionate, but clumsy both parties not quite knowing what they were doing. Hanzo wrapped his arms around Jesse’s back and Jesse kept caressing Hanzo’s face, wiping the tears away.

            “I am so sorry” Hanzo mumbles while pulling away “ I never intended this to happen”

            “s’ okay Han’ we can work it out,” Jesse says hopefully, Hanzo just pulls back more sadly smiling and shaking his head slightly. Hanzo looks like he was about to say something when a car horn blares behind him. Hanzo takes a few steps back towards the waiting vehicle.

            “Promise you won’t forget me okay?” Jesse says as a half joke. Hanzo nods, unable to find his words.

Once Hanzo turns around he doesn't look back, but Jesse can’t help but watch as they drive away.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this was a blast to write thank you all for the support, thank you for the kudos and comments. I know I say this after every chapter but it does really mean the world to me.  
> Edit: cleaned it up a bit and added some infromation  
> *whispers* stay tuned for an epilogue

**Author's Note:**

> also here's my Tumblrs  
> thedegu.tumblr.com (regular)  
> degusart.tumblr.com (art)


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